A Sydney train carriage full of sandbags may look like it has been vandalized before it has had a chance to enter service, but there is a very innocent explanation.
The 1,500 sandbags packed inside a light tram in Parramatta, in the city’s west, were used to simulate the equivalent weight of 400 passengers – a full tram.
Sandbags covered almost every inch of the tram’s floor and seats.
It’s all part of a comprehensive testing regime to get Parramatta light rail ready to welcome passengers on board within months.
“It helps our drivers check how these trams perform when they are full – rain, hail or shine,” explained NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen.
She shared another photo of the sandbags ready to be loaded onto the tram one by one and then assured that the sand will have more uses in the future.
‘When the tests are completed, this sand will not be wasted. “We will use it to fill the tram’s reserves of sand, which it will then use to grip the tracks when it rains,” Ms Haylen said.
But not everyone agreed that it was a good way to see how a tram full of passengers would work.
A Sydney train carriage full of sandbags (pictured) may look like it has been vandalized before it has even had a chance to enter service, but there is a very innocent explanation.
With about 1,500 sandbags (in the photo) the weight of 400 passengers is simulated: a complete tram
“This wouldn’t test the whole dynamic of what I think is called ‘a live charge,'” one person commented.
‘People move as if water were splashing in a large fish tank sitting in the same carriage.
“I would suggest something like a large drum that is not completely filled (with the same weight as a person), to allow for splashing and movement at least as if someone were standing and holding onto a railing.”
Another believed that the center of gravity of the sandbags was too low.
‘It’s like comparing this to an electric vehicle and implementing it in a gasoline vehicle of similar weight. They are simply not the same,’ they added.
The sandbags help “drivers test how these trams perform when they are full – rain, hail or shine”, said NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen (pictured).
A third dismissed the idea of such testing, suggesting it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“Whoever came up with that idea could only work for the government,” they wrote.
Others saw the funny side
“You’ve heard of snakes on a plane and now on a train,” one joked.
Another joked: “Bring your plastic bucket and shovel and make some sandcastles.”