• How the UK’s dependency on cars slows down the economy (The Conversation) • Midlands abandoned railway island to be brought back into use: Video (Transport Matters) • British Transport Police trials live facial recognition …
Continue readingCategory: Technology
Finnish airship company making surveillance craft for NATO – border (BusinessInsider)
Kelluu, a Finnish startup, is developing low-cost hydrogen airships that can fly for up to 12 hours. They’ve recently attracted attention from NATO, securing a deal with a member for trials. The airships are built …
Continue readingCold Weather Challenges Electric Buses: Cornell Researchers (ScienMag)
Cornell University researchers have made significant strides in the assessment of electric buses, particularly in relation to their performance in cold weather conditions. Their comprehensive study, the first of its kind in the northeastern United …
Continue readingTwo C19 railway tunnels enlarged w/ tunnel widening machines (NewCivilEng)
Two 19th century railway tunnels in Germany are being enlarged and renovated with minimal disruption to services, thanks to an established construction method enabled by a newly-launched Herrenknecht system. The 34th edition of construction and …
Continue readingOn-train thermal camera tech aims to detect rail faults long before they disrupt services (E+T)
A thermal imaging camera attached to the front of a South Western Railway (SWR) train is helping detect faults on the line before they start causing major delays. The year-long trial also sees a camera …
Continue readingThe recycled Bletchley train depot: Video (TransportMatters)
London Northwestern Railway unveils hi-tech train Bletchley train depot. The £80 million investment brings a redundant depot back into use. This facility boasts innovative lifts and gantries for comprehensive train maintenance. The depot supports the …
Continue readingTesla self-driving tech keeps being investigated for safety, why is it allowed? (CNNBusiness)
Federal safety regulators are once again looking into Tesla’s self-driving mode, the latest in a seemingly endless stream of investigations into the safety of the technology. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced …
Continue readingSelf-healing asphalt could solve UK pothole challenge (TheEngineer)
Bio-based microcapsules have been added to asphalt to make roads that self-heal when cracks occur, an advance that could address the UK’s £143m pothole problem. Scientists from King’s College London and Swansea University, in collaboration …
Continue readingA weighty dilemma: What to do about heavy trucks pummeling roads & bridges? (CityLab)
Heavy tractor trailers strain highway bridges and deliver noise and pollution to urban communities. But cities… also depend on trucking. Since the late 2010s, it’s been clear that the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a key arterial for freight and …
Continue readingNorthern to trial Cryogrip this Autumn (RailAdvent)
To help combat fallen leaves on the line, Northern is trialling a train fitted with cryogenic cleaning equipment known as Cryogrip. The train, which will not carry any passengers, will be running between Bishop Auckland …
Continue readingGermany tests world’s 1st commercial 5G railway network on 1,900MHz (E+T)
The world’s first commercial 5G network on the 1,900 MHz band for railways has been successfully trialled in Germany. Global telecoms firm Nokia and national rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) implemented the 5G network at DB’s …
Continue readingMotornormativity in Tech: Car Culture is Coded into all our Futures (Freewheeling)
…motornormativity: a term coined by psychologist Ian Walker to describe the way our societies assume that cars are normal and everything else is an exception. Motornormativity is a British phrase for an American idea which, …
Continue readingSouth Eastern trials tech to combat heat-induced signal failures: Video (RailTechnology)
South Eastern Railway has launched a pioneering trial of a new passive cooling technology on the Tonbridge to Hastings line, aimed at improving rail reliability during extreme heat. In partnership with UK green tech start-up …
Continue readingAutomation on the Docks: Podcast (10Blocks)
Audio Transcript Brian Anderson: Welcome back to the 10 Blocks podcast. This is Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal. Joining me on the show today is Jordan McGillis, who’s City Journal’s economics editor. Jordan writes about energy technology, economic …
Continue readingReconnections’ Miscellany: Transport over time – August 2025
Marey diagrams Étienne-Jules Marey was a 19th century French scientist, photographer and polymath who was key in the development of cardiology, physical instrumentation, and laboratory photography. He was also a pioneer in establishing a variety …
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