| An example that perhaps Bristol and Bath should follow? Posted by grahame at 07:58, 2nd August 2026 |     |
Yesterday ... my first visit to Chemnitz, travelling through on the hourly train from Aue in Saxony that turned itself into a tram at Technopark, switched from diesel to electric, and combed in with other services to give a more frequent mass transit through the heart of the city and to the main railway station where I left it to continue out on the other side. It's not unique - I have arrived in Saabrucken on a tram that started on a train. And in the UK, we have a similar system in Sheffield though I have not travelled on it.
The idea seems sensible and appears to work well - so why has it not seen wider adoption, and might it work in places like Bristol and Bath, Exeter and Plymouth, Southampton and Swindon?
| Re: An example that perhaps Bristol and Bath should follow? Posted by WelshBluebird at 10:13, 2nd August 2026 | |
We don't even need to look that far. The 398s being introduced in South Wales are based on the same tram-train platform and some of the extensions being done and planned in terms of street running are great examples for showing what you could do.
| Re: An example that perhaps Bristol and Bath should follow? Posted by grahame at 11:36, 2nd August 2026 | |
We don't even need to look that far. The 398s being introduced in South Wales are based on the same tram-train platform and some of the extensions being done and planned in terms of street running are great examples for showing what you could do.
Our speaker at the November 25th 2026 meeting of the West Wiltshire Rail User group will be Nathan Sealey, Head of Practice - Systems Engineering and BIM | Consulting Rail at Amey, who has had rather a lot
to do with the South Wales Metro. We may hear some things looking ahead to the Bath and Wiltshire metro too.Meeting from 19:00 (for networking and coffee) with Nathan talking from 19:30. Paid up members of WWRUG - it's included. Guests welcome for £2 on the night (cash only). At the Bethesda Church Hall, near to Trowbridge station, with a finish time such that it works out well for trains in all sorts of directions even before we have metro frequency!
