When the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law at the end of 2021, it promised to usher in a new era in transportation, energy, water, and telecommunications projects. This major increase …
Continue readingAuthor: Long Branch Mike
Monday’s Friday Reads – 3 October 2022
• Who could succeed Andy Byford at the helm of TfL (NewCivilEng) • The Up & Down Club: The sleeper train commuters (Telegraph) • Europe’s kid friendly trains benefit all passengers (FamilyFriendlyTrains) • Karlsruhe tram-train …
Continue readingRailcars capturing CO2 could make rail carbon neutral (RailTech)
Capturing CO2 from the air while running a train: it could even make diesel-fuelled train operation nearly carbon-neutral, according to new research. US-based startup CO2Rail Company, together with researchers from the University of Sheffield, are …
Continue readingMaaS needs legislation: Antwerp’s transport chief (CitiesToday)
Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) has been a much vaunted concept since it first emerged in the mid-2010s, promising a one-stop shop for transport needs. Helsinki, Antwerp and Berlin have been early pioneers in the field, but the …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 30 September 2022
• Bond Street Elizabeth line station opening Monday 24 Oct (IanVisits) • Great British Railways already dead: Rail industry at lowest ebb (Guardian) • Barking Riverside – The Inside Story: video (JagoHazzard) • ScotRail announcements …
Continue readingBooking int’l train trips fail 10 times more often than a flight: Why? (RailTech)
“We all know that booking international rail tickets can be quite difficult, but how big is the problem?” That was the question that Thomas Preslmayr and students of the Austrian St. Pölten University of Applied …
Continue readingThe rapid deployment of zero -mission buses in Europe (IntlCouncilCleanTransport)
The deployment of fully electric buses has increased rapidly, rising from a 5% sales share in 2016 to 10% in 2021. This trend looks likely to accelerate, driven largely by demand-side policy from cities and …
Continue readingDecarbonising rail technologies decision diagrams (JonWorth)
Rail might correctly consider itself the greenest transport mode, but there is nevertheless plenty railways can do to decarbonise – not least by doing away with diesel as the primary fuel to power trains on …
Continue readingSiemens Mobility launches Mireo battery train (RailwayTechnology)
Siemens Mobility, a separately-managed firm of Siemens, has unveiled the Mireo Plus B battery train to the public for the first time at the InnoTrans event in Berlin, Germany. In 2020, the company secured a contract for the …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 26 September 2022
• TfL cleaners, caterers, & security to get free London transport (Guardian) • London noise map (NoisyCities) • Lamplight design of the Thames Embankment (TheTidalThames) • Norway wants people to park their EVs & ride …
Continue readingNetwork Rail installing trial ‘request-stop’ station kiosk (RailInsider)
For many of us, flagging down a train as you would a bus would seem a little odd. But for some, those who use around 150 of the most remote stations throughout the UK, it …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 23 September 2022
• Queue Theory: How to design the perfect queue (Wired) • London’s Transport Commissioner Andy Byford to leave TfL, again (RailUK) • Free public transport in Europe: It hasn’t reduced traffic (EuroNews) • We have …
Continue readingGet him on the Blower!: The origins of Pneumatic Railways
Telegraphs were the internet of the Victorian Age. News of political and business developments could be sent around the world in near real time. However, the mass of telegrams converging on the network hub in …
Continue readingHitachi Rail unveils tri-mode battery hybrid train (RailUK)
Hitachi Rail has unveiled its new ‘Blues Train’ at InnoTrans 2022. Built for Trenitalia, the cutting-edge battery hybrid train will reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption by 50% and has the ability to arrive at …
Continue readingHow railways can phase out diesel with HVO & possibly hydrogen (RailTech)
HVO fuel and a future hydrogen combustion engine will both play a role in reducing rail emissions. “We can replace old vehicles with new sustainable trains, however we also need to do something to reduce …
Continue reading