Recent content by dm1

To give an example of how it can be done, in Switzerland, when getting licences to hold these kinds of large events (be that planned/regular or temporary/one-off), a key component is a detailed transport plan covering how attendees are expected to arrive and depart, including the required...

I this is a good example to mention a key tool in the reliability toolbox of the signalling and control staff - pre-planned contingency strategies. Since the whole railway network runs in a Takt, the timetable follows a standard hourly pattern, meaning it is feasible to pre-plan for almost any...

RE and IC trains between Zurich und Schaffhausen briefly pass through Germany (Jestetten/Lottstetten) without stopping.

Switzerland is typically significantly less strict than Germany as far as those rules go. For all intents and purposes there aren't really any restrictions on what can be sold on Sundays beyond that it is only allowed in specific locations. You don't see supermarkets blocking off shelves on...

The exceptions on Sunday trading laws are much broader than those in e.g. Germany, and cover transit hubs and major tourist areas. There are no real restrictions on what the shops which are open can sell. This has some slightly bizzare side-effects - e.g. chain supermarkets in Davos being open...

Another important demographic in Switzerland is students. A signifcant proportion of them will live in a shared flat in one of the major cities during the week and go to their parents over the weekend - obviously returning on Sunday evenings. Similarly soldiers doing military service typically...

To me it seems like this is largely an attempt to make bendy buses palatable and attractive to the public with which they are typically somewhat contraversial in the UK (see London), despite them being bog standard all over the continent. If it means somewhere gets a properly operated and...

There are a few different possible causes of this rise beyond just more people dodging fares more 1. Electronic ticketing has increasingly become the standard, with the vast majority of tickets now either e-tickets bought online, or mobile ticketing, unless they are a season ticket on a...

The requirements for a train differ quite significantly from those of an EV, meaning typically different battery chemistries are used, with LTO being the usual choice for rail applications. LTO cells have a slightly lower energy density than typical EV chemistries, but can be charged and...

This isn't entirely true. Full power will be drawn when accelerating to max speed, which will occur at medium to high speeds where the power of the motors can be fully applied to the rails. At low speeds the acceleration of the train is limited by rail adhesion, so full power cannot physically...

That conflict only arises when the density is low enough and few people are walking around the neighbourhood. In denser areas security is provided not by cul de sacs, but by the social control of lots of people being out and about who can see and intervene if they see something happening (even...

The difference is that fare evision can result in a criminal prosecution rather than a civil prosecution as is the case for speeding and parking tickets, unless it is serious enough for the CPS to be interested. That alone makes fighting even clearly unreasonable and disproportionate penalties...

Frankly this whole situation is absolutely ridiculous. If 'the railway' is capable of selling a ticket with a railcard discount, it should be capable of displaying that said ticket is only valid at the times where the railcard discount is valid. How that is implemented in the back end systems...

By far the biggest oversight are the platform heights in the core. They should have been built to standard 915mm height (with all non-compliant platforms East and West adjusted to the standard) and the trains ordered accordingly to enable level boarding throughout.

I'm fairly certain you can get level boarding at 915mm for a high speed train without needing to majorly compromise on bogies. The Stadler SMILE platform is designed for 250km/h with level boarding at 780mm, for example. The same design allows for level boarding at 550mm as well using exactly...