This final blog of the TfL series focuses on New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA may sound like a strange candidate: pre-pandemic ridership was already declining the system suffers frequent delays and difficulties improving its infrastructure. In 2017, the New …
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Monday’s Friday Reads – 5 September 2022
• Off-peak Heathrow Tube fares scrapped, but there’s a workaround (DiamondGeezer) • Amazon’s e-cargo bikes to replace 1,000s of London van deliveries (Guardian) • Work starts to finally connect Barcelona tram networks (Barcelona) • European …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 2 September 2022
• E-bikes to be added to Santander bike hire fleet in Sept (SouthLondonPress) • Germany’s €9 train ticket scheme saved 18m tons of CO2 emissions (Guardian) • The different philosophies of the French & German …
Continue readingResearch on how solar storms affect railway signals (Watchers)
A project investigating the effects of solar storms on railway signals, presented this week at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022) by Cameron Patterson, a PhD student at Lancaster University, shows how fluctuations in space …
Continue readingLondon Underground testing new track fastenings to reduce noise (IanVisits)
London Underground is taking action to reduce the noise in tube tunnels by testing new rail track fastenings that should reduce the amount of track noise being heard inside the tube trains. Normally, Transport for …
Continue readingPrototype electric airship motor being developed for Airlander 10 (SimpleFlying)
As part of the ongoing 2022 Farnborough International Airshow, Collins Aerospace has announced this morning that it has produced an electric motor for Hybrid Air Vehicles’ Airlander 10 airship. The 500-kilowatt component, which was developed in …
Continue readingWhat can London learn from Singapore transport? (CentreForCities)
The first blogs of this TfL series explored different public transport funding models: one mostly focused on land development (Hong Kong) and another based on local income contributions (Paris). Both models allow transit authorities to …
Continue readingOld Oak Common station box construction animation video (LaingO’Rourke)
Monday’s Friday Reads – 29 August 2022
• Liverpool’s 1st railway station listed as Scheduled Monument (Liverpool&McrRyTrust) • Boston subway train fire adds to troubled safety record at underfunded transit agency (CityLab) • Milan is taming cars & people love it (Forbes) …
Continue readingLong, winding road toward more circular tires (GreenBiz)
Ventures focused on circular economy advances haven’t historically represented a sexy funding category, but December and early January brought the closing of two high-profile investment infusions: $55 million for AMP Robotics, which is using artificial …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 26 August 2022
• How TfL plans to build 20,000 new homes (Guardian) • Design, wellbeing, & the Elizabeth line: A joyful connection (Grimshaw) • Northern employees to be trained to ID & support vulnerable passengers (RailTechnologyMag) • …
Continue readingDifferent European track gauges & workarounds (MediaRail)
The difference in gauges of Europe’s railways is one of the reasons why it is often misunderstood to mean that there are major differences between all European countries. This is obviously not the case, and …
Continue readingSolar bus kit for European market unveiled (Bus-News)
Sono Motors has unveiled its Solar Bus Kit to help public transportation companies reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The retrofit solution was unveiled at the company’s ‘Celebrate the Sun’ event in Munich, which …
Continue readingWe’re gonna need a bigger boat – London’s First Highway: Part 4
As passengers are returning to London’s transport, with some overcrowding, it’s time once again to turn our attention to the Thames’ role in expanding the region’s transport. The River was the capital’s original highway, and …
Continue readingGlasgow city centre freight route safeguarded, w/ Crossrail potential (RailFreight)
Network Rail has committed to renovating a freight route through the centre of Glasgow. The infrastructure agency is to invest in a programme of improvement works set to begin on a bridge that’s key to …
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