Quote:
Originally Posted by Bach1685dude
Is there a chance that some of the new downtown streetcars in US cities like Detroit, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, KC, etc. could be converted to proper light rail systems?
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That would depend mostly on the minimum radius of the various curves in city streets. Generally, streetcars can navigate at slow speeds turns with radius as low as 50 feet (~15 meters), light rail trains trains with turns with radius around 82 feet (~25 meters).
Great places to look how minimum curve sizes look in city streets is Camden, NJ, where Stadler GTWs make 90 degree turns in downtown. Then compare that with NJT light rail minimum curves in Jersey City. Then compare them with streetcars minimum curves in Kansas City.
Of course, a city wishing to change vehicle types could just rebuild the sharpest turns. But there are other things that a different as well, like floor heights and platform heights, and the width of the vehicles. So the costs to change vehicle types can be significant. But not necessarily, a Siemens S70 streetcar is basically the same as a Siemens S70 light rail vehicle - just the length of the light rail trains/streetcars are different.
So the answer to your question is "It depends" or "maybe".