Trams and Light Rail systems deliver always*) a fixed amount of ‘potential passengers’ to a station. For all stations, big or small, the amount is fixed and the same.

*) In many tram systems, in addition to the basic arrangement, ‘peak hour long consist’ can be formed in the yard. This cumbersome practice (it has nothing to do with ‘dynamic capacity’) is costly and only justified in rare circumstances. Most modern systems have abandoned it.

A dynamic capacity system changes its capacity constantly by coupling and uncoupling carriages to and from a consist, now called a wave. How many carriages have to be uncoupled is determined by a computer who monitors and anticipates demand. In low times it instructs particular drivers to divert to the yard. Quite naturally, when many passengers want to alight – at a main station or where a sport event is on – more carriages than the usual single car will be uncoupled. How many carriages are coupled does not need a computer as simply all carriages on the track are picked up. When anticipating increased traffic the computer would also request additional cars to move onto the line track.

For the system to work the following is needed:

• Each car is motorized and self contained.
• Each car has a driver. In fact the ‘driver’ drives only a small percentage of her/his time and is more of a ‘maitre de cabin’, looking after passengers.
• Cars have automated couplings and have wide passages between themselves for passengers to pass through.
• The maitre de cabin has a wireless connection to a computer who tells her/him how many passengers are allowed to board. For the convenience of passengers, this ensures that a wave is never overfilling.

Uncoupling itself is not done by the computer but by the ‘maitre de cabine’ on request of the computer. This is because before being able to split the maitre de cabin has to close the two end doors separating the two carriages.

Also, because a wave does not stop at a station it can be longer than the length of a station and this is why dynamic systems have much greater capacity than traditional trams.

a) regular peak time

b) special events

Waverail is a 21st century tram system using dynamic capacity allocation, in other words it couples carriages on and off while travelling.  This advanced feature brings to Waverail substantial advantages across the board while suffering only minor down sides. Waverail has one ‘maitre de cabin’ in every car who among other duties reports to the computers how many passengers are on board and how many want to board.

Waverail is an Australian developed dynamic capacity system. In the form of road based light rail it operates at 39 – 45km/h. But Waverail’s main home turf will be the increase of capacity of underground lines and networks. With such breakthrough it would become a significant Australian export earner.

View a 28s video here showing how Waverail couples and uncouples carriages while travelling 

Read all about the advantages of Waverail here

Read all the news about Waverail here

Q&A about Waverail is here

View here an advanced video on how, using Waverail, Gold Cost can build a rapid transport network

Read here how already 151 years ago in Britten they uncoupled carriages while travelling

To make a system mainstream it must be popular in patronage and should be a major tourist magnet. Popularity should be the single focus and all issues should be judged accordingly.   Public transport systems all over the world struggle.  Many networks, even in cities with high density and tram tradition, depend on heavy government subsidy to survive.  Australia does not have high density nor can it be called a tram homeland.  Any tram system, traditional or dynamic capacity, for it to avoid the deficit trap, must achieve not medium but high patronage .  Marginally viable systems can be supported by governments and patronage propped up by subsidised fares.  Sooner or later however the enthusiasms of tax payers and various governments vanes and the system settles on a lower level.

Only genuine, market driven high patronage is true viability.  In best case it can even achieve independent profitability for the operator. If achieved without or with only little government subsidy, it is sustainable, avoids the drain on the public purse and avoids taxpayer’s anger.  Morever, only a profitable system will imbue the rest of the economy. Lukewarm or propaganda driven popularity on the other hand is not sustainable.  Worse, sooner or later it promotes dullness, a known poison for tourism.

This leaves the question of how to make the system popular; how to genetate and maintain high patronage?

The answer is short: user-friendliness.