Bird, the scooter start-up that became a Silicon Valley unicorn seemingly overnight, wants to chip in to fund bike lanes in cities. Patrick Sisson at Curbed reports that the company has pledged to contribute $1 …
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Friday Reads – 3 August 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Bethnal Green tube heraldry (ALondonInheritance) • Milan’s 1980s new Metro promo film (CityLab) • Bus map that looks like an IBM mainframe diagram (TransitMaps) • US National links – …
Continue readingAlstom buys Wi-Fi/infotainment company for train use (Smart Rail World)
Alstom aims to deliver “seamless connectivity” with purchase of Wi-Fi and infotainment company. The French train manufacturer Alstom is signalling its commitment to improving the reliability and speed of wireless connections on its trains, after …
Continue readingLight, low-cost rail vehicles for low-density routes (RailEngineer)
You want to reopen a disused rail line. You’ve got permission to do so, you have organised to close, re-route or otherwise deal with rights of way over the infrastructure and you have found a …
Continue readingFour European rail companies to jointly deploy ERTMS (GlobalRailwayReview)
The rail networks between London, Paris and Brussels will all receive ERTMS after the infrastructure managers together coordinate a development plan. Michel Boudoussier, Getlink Chief Corporate Officer, Dyan Crowther, HS1 CEO, Patrick Jeantet, SNCF-Réseau President …
Continue readingTfL’s commercial arm eases pain of £1bn deficit (FT)
Profits from build-to-rent schemes help offset shortfalls in transport revenues The head of Transport for London’s commercial arm has said he expects the division to generate more than £300m this year for the transport body, …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 27 July 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Why has non-London bus funding been halved? (TheConversation) • London’s goal to become world’s most walkable city (ThisIsPlace) • No toilets, no seats, no way to leave – no …
Continue readingWelding problems impact new TTC streetcars (RailwayAge)
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) recently suffered another setback in the delivery of its much-delayed 204-unit Flexity Outlook LRV order. Carbuilder Bombardier Transportation has advised the TTC that 67 of the LRVs have frames that …
Continue readingUIC Security Week 2018 – eyes and ears! (Passion4Transport)
Keeping the railways as safe as possible depends in part on vigilance by rail staff and the public. During UIC’s Security Week 2018 at its Paris HQ, the morning of presentations on 20 June – …
Continue readingCities’ challenges to move masses in 3 dimensions (TheConversation)
Cities are growing vertically as well as horizontally, so infrastructure needs to ensure people can move up and down as well as across the city. Cities worldwide face the problems and possibilities of “volume”: the …
Continue readingLondon’s Walking Action Plan to see billions for infrastructure (E&T)
London is introducing a Walking Action Plan designed to get residents of the capital choosing walking as their primary mode of transport when possible. The plan will see London’s streets being designed to support walking …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 20 July 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Diagrammatic transit maps before Beck (FunctionalArt) • Amsterdam’s surprising metro archeology (CBC) • Estonia’s free public transit (Vice) • US National links – Spite houses & more (TheOverheadWire) • …
Continue readingRevival of overnight trains to Amsterdam planned
Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Netherlands Railways (NS) are developing plans to reintroduce sleeper trains to Amsterdam, which was severed from the European night train network by the contraction and eventual abandonment of German Rail’s …
Continue readingAirlander to offer luxury expeditions (BBC)
The world’s longest aircraft, which collapsed at its former base last year, is to offer “luxury expeditions”. The passenger cabin for Airlander 10, a combination of plane and airship based in Bedford, was unveiled at …
Continue readingBoston wants subway platform barriers & doors (BostonGlobe)
The boarding process on Boston subway platforms can be so unruly that transit officials have tried taping lines on the platforms to keep new passengers from blocking departing riders. Now the T might borrow a …
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