PASSENGER services returned to the short 3km Tornesch – Uetersen line north of Hamburg for the first time in more than 50 years on February 20, 2020. The experimental service at proposed Uetersen station – …
Continue readingAuthor: Long Branch Mike
UK road to rail grants rules updated (RailFreight)
An update to the criteria upon which grant decisions are based, could lead to a more favourable climate for switching from road to rail in populated areas. This could reduce congestion on some of the …
Continue readingEco-footprint of electric vehicles (UConcernedScientists)
One of the questions I’m most frequently asked about electric vehicles (EV) is: “Are they really a cleaner option?” While it’s obvious that a fully-electric vehicle eliminates tailpipe emissions, people often wonder about the global …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 24 February 2020
• Heathrow e-taxi charge prices forcing cabbies to run petrol engines (TaxiPoint) • Art Deco by the Sea Exhibit (ArtDecoSociety) • The rise and fall of the Aérotrain (FabricOfParis) • Asphalt art creates safer streets …
Continue readingShortage of Cobalt for EV batteries (Wired)
As electric car sales soar, the industry faces a cobalt crisis. First it was lithium, now its cobalt. Electric vehicles need them for batteries, but supply issues will only worsen as demand rises. Electric vehicle …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 21 February 2020
• My Fair Lady – London Bridge station (BeautyOfTransport) • Surprising reason for the Underground’s new heritage signs (IanVisits) • Norwegian dream road tunnels (BldgBlog) • Natural selection of urban public transport (CityLab) • San …
Continue readingCase studies in (LevelBoarding)
UK, Merseyrail Merseyrail is in the middle of an ambitious programme to introduce level boarding across its 68-station network. Starting with a comprehensive yearlong platform upgrade project in October 2018 to standardise all platforms in …
Continue readingGOBLIN re-opens Wednesday from derailment (RailFreight)
Services on the Gospel Oak to Barking line near London are expected to resume tomorrow, 19 February 2020. This line was damaged by a derailed freight wagon. The work is almost complete with all the …
Continue readingState of the Art signalling still relies on people
Despite having one of the largest subway networks in the world, New Yorkers now experience frustratingly erratic and unreliable service. Underfunding has meant that engineers have been pushing the often-century-old subway signalling hardware decades past …
Continue readingRailways as drone delivery corridors? (RailwayGazette)
USA: SkyRights Holdings is seeking to partner with Class I railways to make their alignments available for use by drone delivery companies and for ‘urban air mobility’ applications. The company said the airspace above railways …
Continue readingMovin’On 2019: How sustainable is your city’s mobility?
In May 2019, Britain reached a major climate combating milestone when it was coal plant power generation free for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. Nonetheless, there is still much work to be done, …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 17 February 2020
• The messy mission to bring 4G to the Tube (Wired) • Hidden London’s Piccadilly Circus (LondonInheritance) • Derelict Catesby Tunnel refit for aerodynamic testing of autos (TunnelTalk) • Île de France seeks to open …
Continue readingBIM on Northern Line Extension (RailEngineer)
London Underground’s Northern line extension, which is being built from Kennington to Battersea with a new intermediate station at Nine Elms, uses Building Information Modelling (BIM) as the basis of its design and documentation. This …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 14 February 2020
• Software challenge blows Crossrail off course (RailwayGazette/LR) • AirBnB-like showers for London exercise commuters (PopUpCity) • East-West Rail Phase 2 gets green light (Railway-News) • £15bn plan for new West Midlands rail & tram …
Continue readingUltracapacitors for Warsaw tram system (Railway-Tech)
Skeleton Technologies has received a contract from Medcom to supply ultracapacitor energy storage for the tram network in Warsaw, Poland. Ultracapacitors have a capacity of one million cycles and immediate charging. This allows for functions …
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