CamCab

Sunday Variety

Yesterday’s blog was published later in the morning. It was, as usual, fbb incompetence. The blog is republished below today’s offering for those that missed all the excitement. Re-Inventing The Wheel S N C F have come up with a spiffing new idea to serve “low use” branch lines. There is a video. Maybe we could copy the idea.  Of course,…

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Up And Over : Down And Under (2)

More Stunning Engineering Yesterday, fbb looked at new engineering on the Forth and Clyde canal. There was the canal and the Kelpies at Grangemouth, the Falkirk Wheel linking to the Union Canal, bridges at Stockingfield Junction and rejuvenation and rebuild at Port Dundas in Glasgow itself. In passing we met two old aqueducts, one at Kirkintilloch and one at Stockingfield.…

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Friday Reads – 28 July 2023

• £14m in fines levied on TfL & TOL for Croydon Tram crash (RailwayTechnology) • UK announces £680m for Turkish high speed electric railway, but no UK benefit (LondonEconomic) • Northern expanding using classical music to curb anti-social behaviours at stations (RailTechnology) • 3 extensions in 4 years: The Paris M14 Métro line (RailTech) • Centerline, the surprisingly long history…

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Up And Over : Down And Under (1)

Stunning Engineering Old And New At Grangemouth, the original route oif the Forth and Clyde canal ran from bottom left on the above Google Earth extract to the top right, where we see the start of the Forth-Clyde Way, the road built on the canal’s route. The watercourse now tuns sharp left and leads to … … the Kelpies. The…

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Out now: Issue 294 of Passenger Transport

Issue 294 of Passenger Transport is published on July 28. Contents include:    LEAD STORY ‘Train beats plane on key domestic routes’‘Majority’ of popular domestic air trips could be completed by train more quickly and cheaply, new Campaign for Better Transport report reveals  NEWS DfT pauses bus retrofit funding amid doubtsDepartment investigates variable performance but Transport Scotland backs technology and…

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‘Train beats plane on key domestic routes’

New research commissioned by Rail Partners reveals how competition among train companies is delivering results across Britain and Europe  Campaign for Better Transport says that switching just a quarter of the domestic flights featured in its report to rail would save 171,377 tonnes of carbon   The majority of the most popular domestic and near Europe flights can be completed…

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DfT pauses bus retrofit funding amid doubts

Department investigates variable performance but Transport Scotland backs technology and continues to fund conversions. Rhodri Clark reports  A bus in Glasgow. Transport Scotland is continuing to fund retrofitting through its Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit (BEAR) programme   The DfT has defended pausing England’s bus retrofitting programme while it investigates variable performance. Faced with the same evidence on performance, Scotland is…

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Closing ticket offices creates challenges

  It’s seen as a quick financial fix, but the experience of the London Underground reveals the true cost of closing down ticket offices  We would be better off re-designing ticket offices so that they become beacons not just of the station but of the wider area   A fortnight ago it was revealed that between December 2022 and May…

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Flights of fancy are fanning the flames

  Aviation is becoming a real climate change problem but the government clings to the ‘jet zero’ fantasy. We need fewer flights  A forest fire in Rhodes. Scientists predict that if the world heats by 2C, these brutal heatwaves and wildfires will happen every two to five years   Many roams lead to Rhodes, and nobody is happier to facilitate…

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It’s time to collectively talk about transport

The Great Transport Debate is a unique event designed to bring together leaders, experts, innovators and 200 informed professionals from every sector of the industry to debate the most pressing issues and challenges facing UK passenger transport networks today – and in the future    BY Neil Micklethwaite DATE: Thursday 28 September 2023TIME: 10am- 5:30pmVENUE: Concorde Conference Centre, Manchester AirportWEBSITE:…

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