Don’t choose yesterday’s transit options

Re: “A new idea for mass transit,” editorial, Oct. 26. This is really an old idea that did not quite succeed. Essen, Germany, has the O-Bahn, where guided buses share track with trams on short sections of track and in a subway.

O-Bahn has been less than successful, and since its introduction in the late 1970s, only two examples have been in operation: Essen and Adelaide, Australia.

The problem with O-Bahn is simple: Transit customers perceive it as a bus and not quality transit such as a tram. Unlike a modern tram or LRT, O-Bahn has not proven to attract new ridership.

In Germany, Essen’s O-Bahn remains a one-off, and in Adelaide, O-Bahn performance was so uninspiring that transit planners decided to rebuild the aged Glenelg Tramway and replace its 70-year-old cars with modern trams.

What Victoria should be looking at is the German TramTrain or a tram or streetcar, designed so it can operate as a streetcar in the city centre and a passenger train utilizing existing railways.

Unlike O-Bahn, TramTrain is very successful, and why not, with costs as low as $5 million per kilometre to build and a proven record in attracting customers.

Transit planners in Victoria should look at transit modes with a proven record of success and not yesterday’s transit, tarted up to pretend it is good. Malcolm Johnston Delta