• Zipcar’s rivals consider London expansion after it reveals UK exit (The Guardian)
• Northumberland Line – lessons learned from transforming connectivity: Video (IMechE)
• Leeds-Bradford £2.5bn tram plan delayed after government review (BBC)
• HS2 UK 1st: 4,600-tonne viaduct slid over M6 traffic (Rail News)
• The history of, & plan to re-open, Edinburgh’s lost rail loop: Video (CityMoose)
• The $29BN Megaproject in the Heart of a Mountain: Video (The B1M)
• The world’s smallest rail service: The Vatican Railway: Video (Railways Explained)
• Northern Light: Portrait of British Columbia’s BC Rail in the Rockies: Video (Center for Railroad Photo’fy & Art)
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The Northumberland Line(s) project contrasts horribly with the shambles to be seen between Bristol & Portishead.
The latter has been “Gnawed at by Pygmies” ( Quote from the late Paul Jennings ) – resulting in a city-suburban line, being “given” a restored hourly sevice over what used to be a mixed single/double-track alignment, to “save costs” – & thus probably resulting in no-one using it, because it’s pathetic.
The 1957 tt shows 19 passenger trains a day, between 05.27 & 23.00 at a period of increased road use & declining rail traffic & we can’t even match that (!) Then, of course, there was also considerable freight traffic to/from Portbury Docks, which had to fit between the passenger services ….
Part of the reason why Zipcar struggled in London is their pricing for longer missions (mileage or time) was just not competitive with traditional by the day car hire, and, in areas where public transport and taxis is readily available, not exactly competitive on convenience either, unless you were a frequent user and a car was located nearby.
Fixed and variable costs imposed by various levels of government are a contributing factor to the unattractive costs.
Other car sharing companies likely to experience the same issues; traditional rental companies are reducing the number of city centre locations also.
Hiyacar and Turo have an issue that their insurance excesses are high, and “car rental excess insurance” is unavailable/expensive for these operators.