Trinidad needs a train system because there are too many cars and trucks on the road at rush hour and consequently a lot of productive hours are lost sitting in traffic. There is no way anyone, government or otherwise, can build new highways and roadways in time to resolve the heavy congestion experienced on the roadway.
Another reason for a train system is to deal with disaster preparedness. In the event of an emergency citizens need to get out of the city in droves at around the same time. This leads to immediate congestion and consequently the rush to get out leaves passengers and drivers waiting in traffic for hours.
A train system is independent of the roadway and will get large quantities of people away from the cities and towns, thus forming a critical link in the nation’s disaster preparedness plan.
Is the train affordable? If one were to use traditional methods of construction it may prove to be a rather expensive but necessary endeavour. There are some ways in which one can reduce the overall infrastructure cost. One such way is to use pre-cast concrete. In T&T concrete is relatively cheap and we have the local businesses PreCast Concrete Services, Spancrete Limited and Prest T Con among others, which can provide the expertise and products for an elevated rail service.
Such a system is less expensive than land preparation, compacting, grading and eventually laying tracks. The beams can be lifted in place and shortly thereafter the rails can be placed on them.
The local construction industry has the experience of building columns to receive the precast beams. In areas where land acquisition is an issue the elevated tracks will minimise the cost of acquiring the land. Elevated rails minimise the need for railway crossings and fences to prevent pedestrians walking along the path of the train. The locomotive can be diesel or electricity powered, both are affordable as T&T has a rich source of energy.
Will the train negatively impact the taxi operators? At present one can see hundreds of maxi taxi operators line up in the traffic daily to transport passengers to the major cities and towns.
In some areas the taxi owners are so frustrated with the traffic that they refuse to make the full trip from Arima to Port-of-Spain. Instead they stop off in areas like Curepe and San Juan and either return for another trip or reload with new passengers.
With a train service in place they would have less traffic thus making their trips more frequent and less frustrating. In addition, the thousands needing to get to the trains will have to access the taxis to get from their home or parking lot to the train station. This will result in many more passengers and shorter trips. The outcome will be less wear and tear on the vehicles, more profit and less expense in fuel and parts.
Those who will like to see T&T progress will overwhelmingly support the immediate need for a train system. The alternative is unthinkable.
God bless our nation
Steve Alvarez