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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:This is old news, but according to politicalbetting.com re-privatising the East Coast mainline looks like an election winner. I'm pretty sure that privatised railways has never even had majority support amongst Conservatives never mind the rest of the country. It's so incredibly mystifying that Blair didn't even enact rail renationalisation from a populist vote grabbing perspective given how unequivocally popular it is  .But then again Blair thinks that the right thing is to try and maximise disappointment from everyone  Edit: 1924 The Geneva Protocol is adopted by the League of Nations Assembly as a means to strengthen the League, but later fails to be ratified. Lord of the Llamas fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Oct 4, 2013 |
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Oct 4, 2013 03:46
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Speaking of rail investment, the Welsh Assembly Government approved the South Wales Metro recently. Any opinions on if the measures it includes would be useful?quote:A multi-million pound project to bring a long-awaited overhaul to the transport network of South East Wales has finally been given the green light by the Welsh Government... It means a total of £62m will be ploughed into the scheme over the next three years – including £28.7m in 2014-2015 and £29.8m in 2015-2016, as well as £3.5m this year. If nothing else, electrifying the lines seems like it'd be a positive move?
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Oct 9, 2013 14:13
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Don't suppose any of you would know of some sort of railway equipment that helps carrying heavy loads down tracks? A stretcher or trolley that sits on the running rails would be awesome. I've looked around on the internet but they all seem over the top, the loads carried would only be about 250kg at most. Ideally it'd be compact enough to fit in the back of a vehicle and light enough to be carried by one person, or two at a push.Lofty132 posted:Authorities claiming the derailed Nuclear Flask Train at Barrow had empty flasks anyway, I would have thought the police would have sufficed rather than the army in that case? I didn't notice any of the Army there? Initial response was only a couple of units of police, there wasn't really anything going on at all! I don't even think CNC bothered to show up, it was BTP and Cumbria Olewithmilk posted:I was at a train station passenger lounge and decided to charge my phone for 10 minutes on one of the numerous spare plug sockets in the place. I was just getting up for my train and some guy sat next to me and asked if I'd gotten permission to use it. I told him no and, long story short, he said he was going to report me for "theft of electricity". I invited him to do so and gave him my name and partial address. I got on my train, saw that the guy had moved into the chair I was sitting in and was on his phone, inspecting the plug socket. I'm doing big laughs at the image of the police chuckling at him down the phone but I also am mad at myself for getting wound up and giving him my name. Am I danger of getting a visits from the British Transport Police or should I carry on laughing? Abstracting electricity is an offence, however it must be dishonestly used, or dishonestly caused to be wasted or diverted. You can't steal electricity. You're fine, because nothing you did was dishonest. Presumably you didn't have to rip any locks off of the sockets or anything like that. In those kinds of circumstances, don't ever give your name and address to anyone other than a police officer! Rail staff only have the power to request your name and address under the railway byelaws. Even then they are required to inform you which byelaw is being enforced, and must produce identification upon request that will show the name of their employer and a means to identify the person (I.E a photograph). It is handy reading the byelaws; according to them you could theoretically be forcibly ejected from a railway station for jumping a queue 
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Oct 15, 2013 23:34
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Hezzy posted:It is handy reading the byelaws; according to them you could theoretically be forcibly ejected from a railway station for jumping a queue That's not the best one, mandatory politeness is 10. Trains (1) No person shall enter through any train door until any person leaving by that door has passed through.
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Oct 16, 2013 13:20
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:That's not the best one, mandatory politeness is Wish this was actually enforced. There are a lot of shitheads at Wimbledon station every morning
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Oct 17, 2013 08:02
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I learnt today that AWS was (essentially) invented around 1931 - http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/Automatic-Signal-System-Is-Tested/4f72c743da6246039e169bad3fba6061 Thanks, British Movietone News.
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Oct 18, 2013 17:28
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In case it matters to anyone else: most trains in the south and east are cancelled entirely until at least 0900 tomorrow morning, and are expected to only run a reduced service for the rest of the morning. Most operators are advising people not to travel if they can avoid it; most specific-day tickets will be accepted on Tuesday instead. Seeing as I'm supposed to be at work at 0700, I suspect I might be a little late...
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Oct 27, 2013 21:56
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:I learnt today that AWS was (essentially) invented around 1931 - http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/Automatic-Signal-System-Is-Tested/4f72c743da6246039e169bad3fba6061 ATC was pretty clever, good bit of GWR engineering. The full scale implementation of AWS (BR standard) came in the '50s when there was serious issues with fog.
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Oct 27, 2013 23:10
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So bozza, today's 14 years of work story. Loada bollocks?
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Oct 28, 2013 15:33
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It doesn't sound like itBozza posted:My current project is remodelling Liverpool Lime Street station approaches because it's not been touched properly since the late 70s, and even that was a patch job.
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Oct 29, 2013 21:20
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notaspy posted:So bozza, today's 14 years of work story. Loada bollocks? It's probably not far off the mark. One of the many advantages of building a completely new line is that you avoid interfering with the existing network which cuts costs, disruption and delay considerably.
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Oct 30, 2013 23:03
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Good (sort of) news, everybody! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24753394#TWEET941121quote:HS2: Cameron hails 'vital programme' as MPs approve funding We're preparing to prepare to build a railway!
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Oct 31, 2013 18:26
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Lots of level crossings to close http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24754358 How do they do that, then? Bridge instead? Have to reroute somehow? It doesn't explicitly say but I imagine that's what they will do.
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Oct 31, 2013 19:08
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In the US at least, problem level crossings that aren't worth installing better warning equipment at do typical involve the crossing being blocked, or in rare cases restricted to immediate local access only.
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Oct 31, 2013 19:21
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thehustler posted:Lots of level crossings to close It's obviously judged on a case-by-case basis - bridge, underpass, diversion or simply outright closure if appropriate. The easiest sensible option at the lowest cost, causing as little disruption to the railway as possible.
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Oct 31, 2013 20:09
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How does one close a crossing though? What happens to the line or road?
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Oct 31, 2013 20:37
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thehustler posted:How does one close a crossing though? What happens to the line or road? I don't really get what's confusing you - the line stays there, the road goes over, under or away. It's not a new thing, thousands of crossings have been closed in various different ways over the years.
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Oct 31, 2013 22:18
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It was "simply outright closure" that was confusing me as an option along with the other things you stated.
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Oct 31, 2013 22:53
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Depending on the local area, there may be multiple (level and non-level) crossings in relatively close proximity. You probably don't need to have multiple bridges if the traffic is light enough, so you would just completely close some of them and force traffic to use one single bridge. That's just one possible situation where closing a crossing entirely is a good choice.
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Oct 31, 2013 23:19
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thehustler posted:It was "simply outright closure" that was confusing me as an option along with the other things you stated. Tends to look like this: http://goo.gl/maps/LEclp Sure that's in America, but just plain blocking the path works great.
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Oct 31, 2013 23:33
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thehustler posted:It was "simply outright closure" that was confusing me as an option along with the other things you stated. A lot of LXs are also in the middle of bloody nowhere, especially footpath crossings which are some of the most dangerous, so those just get shut with no replacement.
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Nov 1, 2013 08:24
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Crossrail are building flatpack stations for the above-ground section. I can only assume the people who live near where Surrey Canal Road was supposed to be are looking on with interest. http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2013/11/07/flatpack-train-station/#more-114213Time Out posted:Have you heard about the flatpack Crossrail stations?
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Nov 7, 2013 19:39
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"Plug and play", "modular" and "flatpack" type design is becoming a feature common to a lot of railway design as you can pre-test a lot of the components etc, they're all straight out of the factory, you plonk them in and away you go. All about lowering the required possession time. Modular switch and crossings are supposed to do an S&C renewal which usually takes a 72hr all weekend possession in 2 (or 3, can't remember) midweek 8hr nights.
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Nov 8, 2013 09:58
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So the Spectator are proposing yield management as it applies to Advance fares as an alternative to the passenger capacity crisis. Then that gets shot out of the water by pointing out that the existence of walk-on fares makes that infeasible. And then some says this: quote:The current situation in the UK for (each of) ticket prices, capacity utilisation of rolling stock and congestion management on the UK rail network is both wasteful and delay inducing. I'll trade a seat on the 0715 Virgin ex Euston for 2 bitcoins!
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Nov 8, 2013 19:56
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TinTower posted:I'll trade a seat on the 0715 Virgin ex Euston for 2 bitcoins! Couldn't some
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Nov 9, 2013 00:35
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HortonNash posted:Couldn't some Yes. In fact train companies would love to do this if the pesky government didn't cap their prices.
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Nov 9, 2013 14:53
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TinTower posted:
That has to be a parody, surely to god noone can be proposing something that byzantine and inflationary in all seriousness?
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Nov 9, 2013 15:26
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Wootcannon posted:That has to be a parody, surely to god noone can be proposing something that byzantine and inflationary in all seriousness? Stop thinking about the economic reality of it, the point is exchanges are freedom are always good.
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Nov 9, 2013 15:42
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Virgin are doing some sort of November first class seat sale. It kinda just sounds like they're advertising advance tickets but all covered in glitter and such
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Nov 10, 2013 06:18
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Allan Assiduity posted:Speaking of rail investment, the Welsh Assembly Government approved the South Wales Metro recently. Any opinions on if the measures it includes would be useful?
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Nov 13, 2013 11:47
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Whilst on my rather epic trek to work and back today - via Broxbourne, Chingford, Liverpool Street, Stratford and Canning town, involving three trains, a bus, a tube and the DLR - I noticed something. On the Chingford line I saw a hell of a lot of different designs of OHLE masts/gantries - at one point I think there were five different styles in the space of six masts. I suspect this is due to reusing components on minor lines that have been removed during re-wiring on major routes - is that right? And is that common?
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Nov 16, 2013 22:35
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Paul.Power posted:It seems like a good idea - although as someone who lives in Swansea, every time I see something like this I get the feeling that my adoptive hometown is becoming increasingly marginalised as Newport and the Valleys benefit from their closeness to Cardiff. That's probably just jealousy, though. In all fairness, Newport and the valleys are in such appalling shape in just about every possible way that they desperately need any help they can get.
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Nov 17, 2013 00:58
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My train home this evening had, in the first carriage, one set of doors that could only be opened from the outside and another set of doors that couldn't be opened at all. Of course, both sets opened just fine on the (other) side that everyone got on the train at the terminus. Greater Anglia 
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Nov 19, 2013 19:28
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Brovine posted:...On the Chingford line I saw a hell of a lot of different designs of OHLE masts/gantries - at one point I think there were five different styles in the space of six masts. Oooh, interesting question. OLE masts come from a standard catalogue so they are in theory reusable, however they are usually So, OLE masts can be different sizes if they're supporting different numbers of wires. At a junction especially, you might see a 152UC 'I beam' mast, then a 305DC 'back to back channel with channel crosspieces' then a 4 angle 'lattice' mast, then a paired UC '2 I beams joined together' mast. That there would be going up the sizes from a puny "i can barely support one pair of wires" to all out pants bursting "I span up to 32m and I can support six sets of wires plus four end of wire anchorages with a three tonne transformer hanging off each side". You might also have seen signal gantries, which again would be common near junctions. These can be all sorts of designs. OLE masts though, always have one of these on. The plate with numbers, I mean, not the "danger overhead live wires" sign. That usually goes without saying. 
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Nov 21, 2013 00:28
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I was talking at the Northern Hub proposals in depth with an acquaintance of mine, and we touched on how the plans seem to be less ambitious than it should be. In particular, they seem content to have only one transpennine route up for electrification despite both Manchester-to-Liverpool routes and both routes out of Leeds getting wires. It seems doubly strange given how the Calder Valley route is often used as a backup route. Is there any other examples where the Northern Hub could've been improved? Actually putting the Hull electrification in the original plans than adding them on at First's insistence would've been an example.
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Nov 21, 2013 00:41
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Does anyone know a place I can look up unit numbers based off of headcodes? It's for work and I'd rather not ring up control rooms every time I needed them! I don't have access to TRUST or TOPS
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Nov 21, 2013 03:01
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Virgin Trains have embarked on a unique plan to reduce passenger congestion around the ticket barriers at Chester station: bypassing them completely.
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Nov 21, 2013 12:28
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TinTower posted:I was talking at the Northern Hub proposals in depth with an acquaintance of mine, and we touched on how the plans seem to be less ambitious than it should be. In particular, they seem content to have only one transpennine route up for electrification despite both Manchester-to-Liverpool routes and both routes out of Leeds getting wires. It seems doubly strange given how the Calder Valley route is often used as a backup route. More money spent on it for one thing - we're currently having to go cap in hand to the DfT for more money for Liverpool Lime Street because they neglected it from the scope. Trying to run 8 car units on lines which are currently 2 car Pacers is somewhat challenging to say the least. Also, if we had any sort of rolling stock construction industry left, we should be getting nice new shiny trains sent up to the north west, not a load of recycled 319s.
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Nov 21, 2013 15:32
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How will engineering works happen on the '24 hours tube lines'?
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Nov 21, 2013 17:27
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Metrication posted:How will engineering works happen on the '24 hours tube lines'? The other 5 days of the week. And weekend closures for big jobs.
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Nov 21, 2013 17:44
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