Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread... a brand new one this time. A couple of weeks back @chris asked about specific challenges in electrifying railways in mountainous and forested terrain.
Lets first take a look at what characteristics mountain railways have which differentiate them from lowland ones...
Warmley Signal Box & Waiting Room (you'd wait a long, long time for a train. The Mangotsfield and Bath branch line closed in 1971.).
The signal box is maintained in (sort of) working order, for school visits & the like.
The Waiting Room offers a range of snacks & drinks Brit Rail never managed. #photography#Warmley#SignalBox#railways#SouthGloucestershire
Meanwhile on the #trains... well, more misery, as the #union & the employers still have been unable to reach a settlement on wording conditions & various other practical aspects of the service(s)
for #Labour, heading towards an election this may prove to be a problem in marginal seats where people are depending on the #railways...
So, you may see #KeirStarmer doubling down on his distancing from unions in the next few months - whether that will help or hinder him is in the balance of course!
The remains of the railway viaduct running parallel to Osborne Street in Glasgow. This once carried trains from Bellgrove in the east end to the grand Saint Enoch Station in the city centre. Run by the City of Glasgow Union Railway, it formed part of the Saltmarket Junction which operated from 1882 until 1966.
Just to the south of this viaduct once stood the twelve sheds of the Saint Enoch Locomotice Depot, which was open between 1855 and 1930. The sheds themselves were finally demolished in the 1970s.
In complaints about UK's #railways, our rail service is often compared to that available to our neighbours in #Europe.... unfortunately it seems that in #Germany at least, the railways are beset by a series of similar problems to our own (not least due to a vibrant & politically well connected German automotive sector);
the problem of devaluing #publictransport would seem not to be a problem limited to these shores.
(tbf, I never thought it was)
With billions of pounds already spent, the promise of a high-speed line connecting central London to the northern cities of Manchester and Leeds looks doomed, as the UK government prepares its second program of project cuts in as many years.
The project has become a huge embarrassment for a nation that once prided itself as the world's railway pioneer.
The BBC is now reporting that the government won't be paying for #HS2 to be connected through to central London, so the project will need to find the money from private backers if wants that section to be built.
Outstanding work from the government - they have turned an essential, vital piece of infrastructure into a regional rail line from Birmingham to the outskirts of London.
Diesel railcar + trailer 621/721 (built in 1961) on the engine release road between platforms 7 & 8 at Sydney Central Station on a refreshingly chilly rainy evening.
This set is operated by the Rail Motor Society (based in Paterson).
An absolutely superb 7mm (O scale) model of a GWR Aberdare Class 2-6-0 locomotive (number 2659), built by Brian Powell. The full size version was built in 1902 and withdrawn in 1935.
It is now owned by Amgueddfa Cymru , you can find out more on their site:
After my rather hopeless earlier post about how Greenpeace's report about the shrinking European rail network shows us what's wrong, but not what can we do... a further post with 10 policy proposals
These are the things I would do to put right some of Europe's rail ills, with the focus on #CrossBorderRail
The fact that item (2) is necessary is scandalous. Publicly funded railways should be under an obligation to make all their timetable and journey-planning data freely available in a standardised format. If the UK can do it, so can RENFE and the other culprits.
"The length of #motorways in #Europe grew 60% between 1995 and 2020 while #railways shrank 6.5%. For every €1 governments spent building railways, they spent €1.6 building roads.
In the public and political debate, small investments into #BikeLanes and railways were heavily scrutinised while investments in roads were taken for granted. “This absolutely needs to change if we are to meet #climate mitigation targets in the #TransportSector.” "
European governments have “systematically” shrunk their railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding their road network, a report has found.
The length of motorways in Europe grew 60% between 1995 and 2020 while railways shrank 6.5%, according to research from German thinktanks Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation. For every €1 governments spent building railways, they spent €1.6 building roads.
European governments have “systematically” shrunk their #railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding #roads network. For every €1 governments spent building railways, they spent €1.6 building roads.
Small investments into bike lanes and railways were heavily scrutinised, while investments in roads were taken for granted.
There can be little doubt that #publictransport (mass transport) must play a role in the drive to #NetZero & this has been clear for some time.
But once again when we look at what Governments have actually been doing behind their pious words on the #climatecrisis, what we find is they've been starving #railways of money, while extending the #road networks across #Europe.