Trainchat - The failure of privatisation in the British Railway

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Trainchat - The failure of privatisation in the British Railway

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Bozza, are trains designed to discourage people falling asleep on them? I ask as all the window ledges are slopped or not wide enough for an elbow and I know every is like me and would love to get a bit of shut eye just before or just after work.

# ¿ May 8, 2012 11:40

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 21:11

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Bozza posted:

Nah, but Maidenhead Station is my baby, been working on the layout on and off since I started in design (so about 4 years) from concept to approval in principle/ready for detailed design phase.

wrt non-European systems, bluntly, no. There is an EU agency called the European Railway Agency which sets down the standards for interopability on the Trans-European Networks, with the theory to make a common rail market in Europe.

Stuff like use of Standard Gauge (seemingly obvious, but Spain/Portugal uses Iberian gauge and Russian Gauge stopped the Nazis!), 25kV 50Hz overhead wire electrification etc are mandated, along with the use of ERTMS, the European Rai Traffic Management System and it's component parts GSM-R (mobile phone technology, applied to railways) and ETCS, the European Train Control System, which is the common signalling system for all of Europe.

I think China are going to move towards ETCS in the future by all accounts, though it will likely be the China version, not directly compatible with the EU version, but close as dammit.

I would love to take a bullet train from London to Beijing via India. How long would that take using modern trains? A week? Shame it'll never happen.

# ¿ May 24, 2012 16:34

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Install Gentoo posted:

I looked into what this might actually look like if there were bullet train lines capable of doing this route. The fastest bullet trains in Japan right now go about 199 mph, and with a reasonable route from London, passing through India, and on to Beijing, it would take about 47 hours 30 minutes nonstop at that top speed. A more direct route that doesn't pass through India would be 34 hours 30 minutes nonstop at that speed.

Note to do this, would pretty much require thousands of miles of brand new or heavily upgraded routes to handle the speeds. You'd also not maintain the top speed all the way through, due to stops for major stations and possibly for border control purposes.

When the revolution happens this will be it's crowning achievement!

So in super-duper future time a week return trip, almost like a land cruise.

# ¿ May 25, 2012 15:44

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Has anyone else seen white fences partitioning stations in London? Does anyone know what they are for?

# ¿ Jun 18, 2012 12:24

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Hezzy posted:

Construction work? Separating football fans?

They seem to be permanent, I'm guessing they are there to help with a two-tier infrastructure or something like that.

I have seen them in both North and South London.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2012 13:36

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:

Do you mean the big trellis style gates than close across passageways? They're used to change passenger routes around stations when it's high traffic. Otherwise I am clueless to these white fences.

Sounds like them, and that seem reasonable. The idea of having some sort of hosed up two-tier train service scares me, it would be like the liberals knowing what a natural monopoly is but have decided it's an ideological barrier that needs to be overcome... or something.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2012 15:28

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Bozza, why do they reduce the service in snow, surely having the trains running would keep the tracks warm?

# ¿ Jan 18, 2013 11:36

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Bozza posted:

Two reasons really, sighting distance on trains is shorter because of reduced visibility. This isn't that much of a problem unless it's really coming down, though there is an old railway saying between track workers about loving off work if there's falling snow because you can't see trains coming.

Soft southern trains however are not too great in the snow, because the third rail freezes. This is more of a problem with modern stock because the on board computer throws a poo poo fit when it gets massive variations in traction current, huge arcs and back EMF generated because of hitting frozen patches of rail. Hardy northern trains are generally diesel or overhead line powered, so they are ok. Back in the old days, there were no on-board computers and you basically controlled the traction current through massive banks of resistors being switched in and out, so they fared much better with irregular traction currents.

Thanks dude, just needed to shut down some dumb arses in work.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2013 12:38

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

Bobstar posted:

Tories don't go to Streatham.

drat loving right. (I live in Streatham)

# ¿ Jun 3, 2013 14:08

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 21:11

notaspy: Mar 22, 2009

So bozza, today's 14 years of work story. Loada bollocks?

# ¿ Oct 28, 2013 15:33

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