The PN issues a roadmap for a proposal for a tram-free tram
A trackless tram proposed by the PN will run on six circular lines and will serve as industrial areas around Malta, indicates a route map issued by the party on Saturday.
The map proposes six routes that stretch from Cirkewwa to Birżebbuġa, with dedicated stops at Mater Dei Hospital, the airport, San Vincenzo de Paule, Ta ‘Qali and Smart City, among others.
All routes will be circular, with nine hubs and 13 interchanges allowing passengers to travel between the lines.
PN spokesperson Toni Bezzina said that the proposal would require some alterations in the arterial roads, on which the proposed mass transit system will operate.
The dedicated lanes required for such vehicles will require a specialized form of asphalt to reinforce the road surface that the trams will travel along, he said.
Decisions on these dedicated lanes will be made after a national study, he said.
Bezzina was speaking at a news conference on Saturday morning, a day after party leader Bernard Grech shed more light on the PN’s proposals on mass transportation.
The PN estimates that the system will cost € 2.8 billion and take five years to complete.
Bezzina said the trams were running at about 50km / h and were able to carry up to 500 passengers at any one time.
He ignored a question from a Labor Party reporter as to whether the proposal was identical to one presented by the Zhuzhou CRRC Institute, a Chinese rail transport manufacturing firm.
That institute is credited with developing the LiDAR-based form of an autonomous rail transit system, a relatively new technology that some Australian cities and towns are experimenting with.
Its 32-meter trams without rails claim to carry up to 300 people.
A New South Wales government report on the technology has had raised concerns on CRRC which is the sole supplier of such vehicles and warned that vehicles 32 meters long can be difficult to accommodate on local roads.
PN: Cleaner, cheaper, faster
The PN has sought to put forward its proposal for the tram-free tram as a cleaner, cheaper and less invasive alternative to the Labor system proposal that the Labor Party unveiled last year.
That proposal, drafted by international consultants Arup, will see Malta build a 25-station metro system over three decades, worth around € 6.2 billion. The Labor Party’s manifesto commits the party to start working on it “immediately”, if technical studies conclude it is feasible.
While the metro proposes stations in the heart of Malta’s towns and villages, the PN’s tram-free tram will operate on the outskirts of urban areas, running on special lanes on the main roads. Feeding buses then carry passengers to and from urban centers.
Bezzina said the metro proposal came with a number of “hidden taxes” to be introduced to finance its construction – from parking fees to an increase in road licenses and a construction tax.
Fellow PN candidate Janice Chetcuti said the tram would require no digging or uprooting of trees and lead to negligible noise pollution.
The party’s third candidate, Fredrick Aquilina, said the tram would cover much more land – 173km – than the proposed 35km metro route.
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