Train stations: the new shopping Meccas? While airports have always been used to flog perfumes, sweets and luggage to a captive audience, train station operators have been much slower to make the most of on-site …
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Building safer cities video (Monocle)
Monocle Films travels to Paris to bear witness to the French capital’s efforts to mitigate terrorism through smart design and architecture. Watch the video
Continue readingFriday Reads – 19 October 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads: • How the Tube pioneered bank cards (Forbes) • Layers of London map documents local history (MappingLondon) • Free French buses in Dunkirk (Guardian) • Why transit works better outside …
Continue readingHeathrow facial recognition to speed security (Wired)
It’ll soon be quicker to move through airports. Heathrow is rolling out a facial recognition system to let passengers check in, drop off bags, get through security and board planes. Passports and boarding cards won’t …
Continue readingGlowing infrastructure to replace streetlights? (Forbes)
The Gates of Light project does not advertise itself as an attempt to reinvent the lamp. Launched in December 2017, it is part of a design celebration of a Dutch infrastructure icon – the 32 …
Continue readingDoor-to-door ticketing for UK rail network? (Railway-Technology)
With 55 million different fares currently available in the UK, industry bodies are urging ministers to simplify ticketing and end anomalies like split ticketing. Could a door-to-door system be the solution the industry is looking …
Continue readingPlan to integrate Paris Nord & Est stations as hub (RailwayGazette)
Transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités has outlined a 10-point package running until 2024 to rehabilitate the urban realm around Nord and Est stations in Paris, as well as improving access between them. The €50m programme is …
Continue readingBus operator views on congestion, uber & TfL (OnLondon)
As TfL makes plans to reduce bus network capacity, one of the people in charge of running the capital’s bus services gives a rare interview. John Trayner is managing director of Go-Ahead London, the capital’s …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 12 October 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads: • UK rail companies’ message: We’re very sorry (NYTimes) • Tube Map of Summer Olympics host cities 1896-2020 (BrilliantTrains) • Civilising the City of London (UrbanTransportGroup) • London City Airport’s …
Continue readingIntelligent system adjusts glass transparency (GlobalRailNews)
Forget curtains and blinds, one company exhibiting at InnoTrans has unveiled an intelligent technology that shuts out light from train carriages in a futuristic fashion. Dubbed ‘Intelligent Glass Control’ or IGC by developer Continental, the …
Continue readingLR Meetup at Royal Oak pub, 11th October
The second Thursday of the month brings with it our meetup, which happens next on 11th October from 6pm. As always, these are informal affairs where the beer flows, offering an opportunity to put faces …
Continue readingOfo retreats from US bikesharing (CityLab)
Ofo is out: Just a year after launching 40,000 lemon-yellow bicycles in more than 30 different markets in the United States, the Chinese dockless bikesharing company is scaling back its operations and has laid off …
Continue readingWhich city has the world’s most modern trains? (Railway-Technology)
Between Brussels’ autonomous fleets, New York’s passenger-centric design and London’s top-notch signalling, which countries are leading by example and delivering some of the world’s most modern, efficient and reliable metro systems? Transport systems around the …
Continue readingVienna increases public transport mode share (Harvard)
In 2012, the City of Vienna capped off several decades of heavy investment in the expansion and modernization of its already-extensive public transport system with a dramatic reduction of annual transit ticket prices. Since 1993, …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 5 October 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads: • St Pancras at 150 (HydeParkNow) • Women built “The Ladies’ Bridge” – Waterloo (AtlasObscura) • Why Liverpool MerseyRail needs its Circle Line (CityMetric) • How Boston designed its T …
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