Air conditioned Trams ?!?

Open Casket · 02-06-2016, 07:34 PM

I just read the trams will now be air conditioned. Really? I liked the open air of the trams. You could feel and hear the city....

Does everything in this city have to be airconditioned?

jmbf · 02-06-2016, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by Open Casket:

I just read the trams will now be air conditioned. Really? I liked the open air of the trams. You could feel and hear the city....

AC is absolutely necessary in summertime.

Flat Hunter · 02-06-2016, 07:44 PM

Don't worry OC, it's just 1 tram.

Open Casket · 02-06-2016, 08:30 PM

Originally Posted by Flat Hunter:

Don't worry OC, it's just 1 tram.

thanks FH, I can sleep better now :/

shri · 02-06-2016, 08:32 PM

They have been talking but I his for 20+ years. Even been discussed on Geo about 5-10 years ago.

HowardCoombs · 02-06-2016, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by shri:

They have been talking but I his for 20+ years. Even been discussed on Geo about 5-10 years ago.

They tested these aircon trams at least 4-5 years ago, I used to ride them regularly from Happy Valley. No idea whats taken them so long to finally get them out there officially....

bdw · 02-06-2016, 08:52 PM

I thought they had technical problem. It's fine for a few trams, but if they all have AC then it draws too much power from the overhead lines. Maybe they fixed it now.

Char Siu King · 02-06-2016, 09:11 PM

Leave it. I like the gritty shitty steamboxes like they are. Just like the star ferry.

threelittlepigs · 02-06-2016, 10:35 PM

In typhoon weather, isn't it required to leave top floor windows open so tram doesn't blow over?

M Khan · 03-06-2016, 07:31 AM

Originally Posted by Char Siu King:

Leave it. I like the gritty shitty steamboxes like they are. Just like the star ferry.

The Star ferry has had air-con for quite some time. Doesn't run throughout the whole ferry, or throughout the whole day, but it's long been there as an alternative to the fresh air approach.

Originally Posted by HowardCoombs:

They tested these aircon trams at least 4-5 years ago

I also recall taking trams with air-con a few years back. I guess that must have been part of the trial period. I admit it was nice but I can't say that its subsequent absence has affected my tram-taking habits at all.

Originally Posted by jmbf:

AC is absolutely necessary in summertime.

It's definitely nice to have, but hardly necessary. The sheer numbers of people who continue to choose the tram over air-conditioned alternatives (such as taxis or the MTR) attest to that.

When I travel around Hong Kong island I use whichever mode of transport is most convenient and often that is the tram. Rather than walk a few more minutes down the road to an MTR station, then a few MORE minutes on top of that descending into the bowels of the Earth, and then getting muddled up with exit choices at my destination, I find that often the tram just stops very close to where I'm standing and drops me off very close to where I want to be. Not all the time, of course, but often enough to make the tram a godsend, air-con or not.

Originally Posted by threelittlepigs:

In typhoon weather, isn't it required to leave top floor windows open so tram doesn't blow over?

I imagine they'd turn the air-con off in a typhoon, just as they would in winter. Having air-con doesn't mean windows have to be permanently fixed shut. On the ferry they simply have signs reminding people to keep the windows closed when the air-con is on.