ION Phase 2 - Cambridge's Light Rail Transit

[Bytor]

It can be done, it's just a stupid solution. It isn't that costly or hard to do a bit of cut and cover work

Cut and cover is about 3x more expensive, costing about $150M/km on average compared to surface rail which costs $45M/k.

to put the thing underground for a few meters.

Except it's not just "a few metres" as you so blithely call it. The elevated approach to the CPR track that crosses Eagle St requires runs of 200m and 230m on each side to get high enough over the track. Since the roadway would need to be above the LRT track at least as much as the LRT track would need to be above the freight line, if not more to allow for the catenaries.

They're building like a dozen elevated sections, right?

Five.

Now we'll just have a train that...as usual...can't navigate any turn

Did you expect this to go around corners like a high-speed tilting train? Don't be ridiculous. Faster turns on rail require more cant, and more cant is uncomfortable for passengers.

or operate near any street unless it slows down to <10km/h.

I find that the trams generally go through crossings at about 15km/h. I've measured them with my phone's GPS, and only at Hayward where there's turns do they go slower