Electric scooters taking US cities by storm are illegal on British roads, symptomatic of English legislation that dates back to the year of Mark Twain’s birth — and still in force today. But in the …
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San Francisco’s new transit center opens (SFChronicle)
For the past decade, the transit center that will replace San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal has been the subject of grand plans and political controversies, struggles to stay on schedule and squabbles over costs. Next weekend, …
Continue readingSNCF confirms TGV of the Future order (RailwayGazette)
Delivery of the 100 Avelia Horizon trainsets to SNCF will run from 2023 to 2033. Branded Avelia Horizon by Alstom, the double-deck trains will be acquired at a cost of €25m per trainset, which SNCF …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 10 August 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • The Tube’s spiral escalator (LTMuseum) • The London walker’s Tube map (Londonist) • Manchester considering High Line on rail viaduct (Confidentials) • Story of classic three-wheel Reliant Regal Supervan …
Continue readingCooling the Tube progress (RailTechnology)
Fighting heat in the underground – Rail Technology Magazine (RTM) looks at the successes of the Cooling the Tube programme so far and what TfL hopes to achieve in the coming years. Despite what was …
Continue readingLR Meetup at Royal Oak pub, 9th August
The second Thursday of the month brings with it our meetup, which happens next on 9th August from 6pm. As always, these are informal affairs where the beer flows, offering an opportunity to put faces …
Continue readingPolitics turned NY Gateway tunnel into $30B grudge (Politico)
President Donald Trump was in an unusually bipartisan mood on September 7 [2017], when he convened a White House meeting about a massive project to build a rail tunnel under the Hudson River. He was …
Continue readingInto the depths of New York’s East Side Access project (FoggiestIdea)
Gazing at the vast expanse of marble and stainless steel spanning the new concourse over one hundred feet below Grand Central Terminal, you could almost feel the rumble of the Long Island Rail Road trains …
Continue readingScooter Co offers to pay cities to build bike lanes (StreetsBlog)
Bird, the scooter start-up that became a Silicon Valley unicorn seemingly overnight, wants to chip in to fund bike lanes in cities. Patrick Sisson at Curbed reports that the company has pledged to contribute $1 …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 3 August 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Bethnal Green tube heraldry (ALondonInheritance) • Milan’s 1980s new Metro promo film (CityLab) • Bus map that looks like an IBM mainframe diagram (TransitMaps) • US National links – …
Continue readingAlstom buys Wi-Fi/infotainment company for train use (Smart Rail World)
Alstom aims to deliver “seamless connectivity” with purchase of Wi-Fi and infotainment company. The French train manufacturer Alstom is signalling its commitment to improving the reliability and speed of wireless connections on its trains, after …
Continue readingLight, low-cost rail vehicles for low-density routes (RailEngineer)
You want to reopen a disused rail line. You’ve got permission to do so, you have organised to close, re-route or otherwise deal with rights of way over the infrastructure and you have found a …
Continue readingFour European rail companies to jointly deploy ERTMS (GlobalRailwayReview)
The rail networks between London, Paris and Brussels will all receive ERTMS after the infrastructure managers together coordinate a development plan. Michel Boudoussier, Getlink Chief Corporate Officer, Dyan Crowther, HS1 CEO, Patrick Jeantet, SNCF-Réseau President …
Continue readingTfL’s commercial arm eases pain of £1bn deficit (FT)
Profits from build-to-rent schemes help offset shortfalls in transport revenues The head of Transport for London’s commercial arm has said he expects the division to generate more than £300m this year for the transport body, …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 27 July 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Why has non-London bus funding been halved? (TheConversation) • London’s goal to become world’s most walkable city (ThisIsPlace) • No toilets, no seats, no way to leave – no …
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