We now delve deeper into evolution of railway infrastructure knowledge that we started in Part 1 of this series. We look at some more recent examples of how underground railway infrastructure interfaces with its environment …
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The Second Coming of Hydrogen? London’s Hydrogen Buses (Hydrogen Part 1)
Despite impressive advances, bus battery technology is still not optimal – poor range, and reduced energy storage in cold weather. So to avoid putting all their clean energy buses in one basket, TfL has consistently …
Continue readingMilan Part 2: Tram City to Metropolitana City
The post-war tramway shrinks but holds The war years brought severe destruction upon the city, as tracks and thousands of tram cars were destroyed in the bombings. When the city was finally liberated the 25th …
Continue readingThe Empires Return – London and New York City Part 2
The rise of London and New York City as major global cities can be traced in part to investment in high quality transport networks, as we described in Part 1, which helped enable each city …
Continue readingMilan: Medieval City to Metropolitana City
As with many other modern cities, the history of Milan, the economic capital of Italy, is tightly tied with the development of its far-reaching and increasingly sophisticated rail networks. And as in many early rail …
Continue readingThe Incredible Lightness of Being – Cable Cars, A Legitimate Urban Transport Mode
After the Emirates Air Line fiasco, most people in the UK had written off cable cars as a valid public transport mode. But reading about the official gondola proposal for Vancouver’s Burnaby Mountain university campus …
Continue readingThe 2020 London Reconnections Christmas Quiz
2020 has been a year like no other, when it comes to transport writing. But there is one thing that doesn’t change: It is time for the London Reconnections Christmas Quiz! The year 2020 has …
Continue readingCovenants, Easements & Wayleaves: The Hidden Urban Interfaces Which Shape London Part 1
The Underground isn’t just defined by its infrastructure, but by its interfaces too. We look at the hidden world of asset interface management, and how it affects, and is affected by, urban railway management, and …
Continue readingSlavery and the Railways, Part 1: Acknowledging the Past
Britain’s railway exists as a legacy of slavery. In this short series we look at this under-explored aspect of railway history, and talk to Network Rail about how we acknowledge that past and build a better present.
Continue readingCrossrail (finally) reaches Stage 2 of opening
You may wonder how you missed the news of Crossrail achieving its second milestone (out of five) in its opening strategy to fully open the Elizabeth line. The reason is simple. It hasn’t been publicised. …
Continue readingA Tale of Two Systems – London and New York City
Letters from America – Part 1 A potted history of transport in London and New York City (NYLON) Having been born and raised just outside of New York City, but spending most of my professional …
Continue readingA Study in Sussex (part 15): East Croydon revisited – again!
It was not our intention to write another full article on the long-term developments planned at East Croydon. As far as we could see the overall plan was almost finalised and little new was expected …
Continue readingCapitalist hydrofoils strike back! (Part 2)
This Liquid Highway video succinctly recaps the history of Thames ferries from 1900 on, with the Denny D2 starting at 1.43, and showing a number of the hydrofoils described in Part 1 of this series …
Continue readingSoviet fleet on the Thames (Part 1)
What do Russian hydrofoils, the Thames, the CIA, a secret city in the Soviet Union, and the Caspian Sea Monster have in common? Two mavericks on either side of the Iron Curtain, who made it …
Continue readingTfL: THE IMPOSSIBLE FINANCES OF FIGHTING A PANDEMIC
Asked by the government to provide a frequent a timetable during the Coronavirus outbreak to allow social distancing, TfL have risen to the challenge. But losing £150m a week has pushed the organisation to the …
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