In the event of major disruption of the service such as a line blockage, emergency working techniques are used to maintian the best service possible in the circumstances.
In the case of a simple line blockage, the trams approaching from each side should stop as near to the obstruction as is practical. They allow their passengers to disembark, walk past the obstruction and join the other tram. Each driver walks through his own tram and takes up a driving position in the opposite end; both trams then proceed in the opposite direction from before.
If the blockage is a major one, such as a serious building fire, trams each side of the blockage 'short work' in an unsynchronised manner and passengers are left to find their way past the blockage in their own time. This is no worse than the disruption caused to other modes of transport and, in peacetime, is a very rare event.
The City Centre Circle is a critical route in the proposed Bath system because it is used by all services. A blockage on this route can be dealt with by simply reversing each radial route at the point where it enters the circle. A single tram then shuttles around the circle, alternately clockwise and anticlockwise, as far as the blockage will permit. This allows passengers to complete their journeys with the minor inconvenience of two changes of tram instead of the usual single change.
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