I can already hear the thumps from a healthy culture of critters getting splatted by the train running through wild shrubs over the rails.
Seriously, rock ballast has a maintenance cost too. Concrete has higher construction cost but is cheaper to maintain, but creates the heat island effect. Grass can still help with drainage if engineered well, removes the heat island effect, and is not too much more to maintain, since trams are a lower speed and weight class putting less of a load on the rails. Grass is even better than concrete slab for noise dampening. So grass isn’t entirely purposeless and make for a pleasant scenery for people to be near.
I can already hear the thumps from a healthy culture of critters getting splatted by the train running through wild shrubs over the rails.
Seriously, rock ballast has a maintenance cost too. Concrete has higher construction cost but is cheaper to maintain, but creates the heat island effect. Grass can still help with drainage if engineered well, removes the heat island effect, and is not too much more to maintain, since trams are a lower speed and weight class putting less of a load on the rails. Grass is even better than concrete slab for noise dampening. So grass isn’t entirely purposeless and make for a pleasant scenery for people to be near.