“There can be no place, I believe, for deniers who are unable to acknowledge that the industry’s reputation, built over many years, was of rising costs, deadlines inevitably moving to the right and estimates wrong …
Continue readingAuthor: Long Branch Mike
Friday Reads – 7 May 2021
• East Midlands Railway launches 1st electric route after electrification (RailTech) • How the London General Omnibus Co icon was nearly a rabbit (IanVisits) • Swedes building all-electric hydrofoil ferry to serve Stockholm (Engineer) • …
Continue readingTrolleybus cities world atlas (TrolleyMotion)
Continue to see atlas and city trolleybus network listings
Continue readingMaking ecological asphalt (OnTheRoadTrends)
For years now, rubber powder has been used to pave roads. The aim is to get highways that are more silent and safer but also more ecological. One of the projects being carried out in …
Continue readingProprietary EV chargers restrict EV uptake (Vice)
There is no such thing as “the” EV charging network. It’s a complicated patchwork of plugs and proprietary software. And unless something changes, it’s only going to get worse. Last week, the electric vehicle (EV) …
Continue readingBattery packs below $100/kWh for first time in 2020 (BloombergNEF)
Hong Kong and London, December 16, 2020 – Lithium-ion battery pack prices, which were above $1,100 per kilowatt-hour in 2010, have fallen 89% in real terms to $137/kWh in 2020. By 2023, average prices will be …
Continue readingHow to get more people onto buses (Freewheeling)
Pre-Covid, more journeys were made by bus than on the National Rail network, London Underground and all tram and metro systems combined. It will be impossible to hit the country’s carbon targets without more people …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 2 May 2021
• Three train companies to increase services to 1,000 a week (RailTechMag) • History of the Watford DC Line (AshleyRabot) • Redefining & redesigning the Nantes tramway (Trams&UrbanTransit) • Tube style bike maps simplify cycling …
Continue readingThe Paths to Public Transport Enlightenment
Advocating public transport improvements is often an exercise in long term frustration. Decades can go by with only poorer service and line closures. But there is a way to work through these feelings. A lot …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 30 April 2021
• Disused rail tunnel reopens at King’s Cross Station (IanVisits) • How did London’s main line stations get their names? (OnLondon) • Planting this shrubbery along roads reduces air pollution by 20% (PriceTags) • Montréal’s …
Continue readingCalais-Mediterranean lorry trailer rail service EoI (RailwayGazette)
FRANCE: The government has called for expressions of interest to operate a lorry trailer carrying service between the English Channel port of Calais and the Mediterranean port of Sète south of Montpellier. Submissions are required …
Continue readingPotential US first: Battery/third-rail BEMU (RailwayAge)
If all goes as planned, in about one year, MTA Long Island Rail Road will be testing a prototype “BEMU” (battery-electric multiple unit) that operates on third-rail power or batteries on the 13-mile, non-electrified Oyster …
Continue readingContinental chess merger game for Kansas City, CP, & CN (RailwayAge)
A bidding war has broken out for the Kansas City Southern, but it’s actually more like a chess game. Here are some observations about what it all could mean, especially in terms of railroad “real …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 26 April 2021
• Hopes for West London Orbital Overground consultation later this year (IanVisits) • England’s old canals help with HS2 construction (BoatingBusiness) • The Island Gardens DLR accident: what really happened (JagoHazzard) • This is how …
Continue readingIntermodal dominant but UK needs more: report (RailFreight)
With intermodal accounting for almost half of the rail freight traffic in the UK, more container trains may be the last thing the UK network needs. That however is exactly what a new report says. …
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