Arbogast, Brunetto, Lynch Tram Tour

Jude Arbogast, Nick Brunetto, & Jackson Lynch

Tram Tour: Delft Noord

During our tram tour of the Hague, we rode the #19 train from Nieuwe Plantage to Leidsenhage on a Wednesday morning. The trip began at 9:13am and ended at 9:39am, totaling 26 minutes. Since the route was 10.7 km (6.7 miles) long, the average speed of the tram was 24.7 km/h (15.3 mi/hr). Comparing this speed to the MBTA Green Line between the Northeastern and Heath Street stops, this Dutch tram is over twice as fast.

During the trip, the train was stopped at a red light only one time, which is much less than the Green line in Boston. The stop was timed at 8 whole seconds. Again, this is much less than the Boston equivalent, whose stops usually take about 45 seconds.

At three stops during the trip we measured the number of people boarding and the time it took to get them all on board. This data is shown in the table below.

 

Stop No. of People Boarding Time (s) Boarding time per Rider (s)
Brasserskade 4 16 4
Ypenburg 2 11 5.5
Oosteinde 3 9 3

We were amazed at how efficient the tram operated. Stops were fast, and there were virtually no delays due to red lights. We would watch the front of the train to get ready to time a light stoppage and they would always turn green as we approached. The tram barely had a chance to slow down. A disappointing aspect of this ride was the lack of people boarding the tram. It would have been beneficial to see the boarding process when a crowd tries to pile on.