Amtrak just released its report a week and a half ago, saying that Penn Expansion, the project to condemn the Manhattan block south of Penn Station to add new tracks, is necessary for new capacity. …
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£1 billion London Gateway Investment Announced but More Needed for Rail (RailMag)
Global logistics giant DP World has unveiled a significant £1 billion investment to expand London Gateway, solidifying its position as the UK’s largest container port. The expansion will see the addition of two new shipping …
Continue readingPublic Transport Issues in Converting Retail Barns to Housing (TransportForNewHomes)
One trend we are happy to see is the conversion of large obsolete car dependent out-of-town retail barns to new uses. Although the policy looks good on paper, we have identified some issues from a …
Continue readingHS2 trial to replace cement with baked clay (ConstructionEnquirer)
The HS2 Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture has secured extra funding to trial repurposed London Clay as a low carbon alternative to cement. The JV is working with Arup, Tarmac, the University of Leeds and …
Continue readingThe Meaning, & Analysis, of Construction Costs Per Rider (PedestrianObservations)
I’ve written a lot about urban rail construction costs per kilometer, but from time to time, my colleagues and I have been asked about what happens if we compare costs, not per kilometer, but per rider. …
Continue readingTunnel widening system enables railway lines to be electrified (ConstructionIndex)
German railways are using a new system that allows tunnels to be widened while keeping the trains running through. Herrenknecht, better know for its tunnel boring machines, has developed a tunnel widening system (TES) to …
Continue readingIndian cabinet approves construction of eight new railway lines (RailwayGazette)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved eight new line projects which are intended to improve connectivity, minimise logistics costs, reduce oil imports and lower CO2 emissions. The projects approved on August 9 include 64 …
Continue readingStation Dwell Times, Anglosphere Incuriosity, & NYC’s Penn Station’s Expansion Proposal (PedestrianObservations)
This is the second part of my series about the Regional Plan Association event about expanding capacity at Penn Station. Much of the presentation, at least in its first half, betrays wanton ignorance, with which area power …
Continue readingHigh Wages and Baumol’s Cost Disease (PedestrianObserations)
The Baumol effect is a mechanism for how the real costs of goods and services can rise over time: wages rise due to economy-wide productivity growth, including in sectors with no productivity growth, and this raises their …
Continue readingSpatial impacts of a massive rail disinvestment program: The Beeching Axe (JUrbanEconomics)
This paper investigates the reversibility of the effects of transport infrastructure investments, based on a programme that removed much of the rail network in Britain during the mid-20th century. We find that a 10% loss …
Continue readingGuangzhou’s Massive new Railway Station: A Stadium-sized Cathedral to Train Travel
Guangzhou, perhaps more familiar by its anglicised name of Canton, is a port megacity in Southern China. It sits alongside Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and several other cities in the Asian economic powerhouse that is Pearl …
Continue readingHudson Tunnel moves ‘full steam ahead’ with US$6.88Bn funding approval (GroundEngineering)
The US government has approved a US$6.88bn (£5.4bn) federal grant for New York’s Hudson River Tunnel, meaning the project is moving “full steam ahead”, New Jersey’s governor has said. The New York Times reported that on Tuesday …
Continue readingChicago’s Railroad Congestion Problem Spills over onto Roads (HomeSignal)
In February 2023, two thousand feet of Chicago’s South Normal Boulevard disappeared. The street’s end came at the hands of Norfolk Southern’s 47th Street intermodal terminal, a facility which moves thousands of containers a year …
Continue reading£8.6M pledged for business case on reopening Leamside Line as part of Tyne Metro (NewCivilEng)
North East mayor Kim McGuinness has pledged £8.6M for the development of a business case to re-open the Leamside Line railway as part of the region’s Metro, which could provide spare capacity for the East …
Continue readingThe governing realities for Labour in power, & what it means for planning and transport
“I wanna be the leader, I wanna be the leader.Can I be the leader? Can I? I can?Promise? Promise?Yippee I’m the leader, I’m the leader.OK what shall we do?” Roger McGough Any Colour You Like …
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