Recent content by Emyr

An up-to-date set of infrastructure for testing, close enough to the live/production/realworld kit for testing to be meaningful, has a significant capital and operating cost. Those who forego this cost by downsizing or de-featuring the test environment aren't necessarily the ones who would bear...

Given a fixed formation of 2-4 cars, and the need for some single-deck space for accessibility, buggies, bicycles and toilets, how much underfloor equipment does an EMU need? I assume the increase in density of power electronics is balanced by an increase in performance requirements. Can we make...

3: properly control the spread of it. Those with a libertarian streak may describe our lockdown as severe, but it really wasn't imposed early enough, restrictive enough, or enforced properly. I was taking advantage of the once-daily exercise ration about 5 days a week until the number of...

Coronavirus is an enveloped virus, so that may enable it to survive a little longer outside a host, unless its lipid layer is disrupted by alcohol or a surfactant i.e soap.

Citation needed, particularly given the number of citizens becoming parents in the post-war period. We'd have a hard time caring for those born post-war who are now up to 75 years old without importing a workforce willing to do hard work for pay that isn't attractive to those who have lived...

It would be much more efficient to provide in-home care for the still-independent elderly in our ageing population if they could be housed in accessible high-density communities with shared dining and outdoor spaces; Include separate homes on-site for care and maintenance staff, and flats...

Victoria was shoddily transliterated. Should have been something derived from "Buddug", that being the Welsh word for victory and also the original Brythonic name of Boudica of the Iceni.

No, since a pound is 454g and a US pint is 473.2ml

1. Earthquake resistance 2. Minimal opportunities to re-use old alignments 3. No corridors reserved for rail alignments by previous developments 4. Countries who do more rail than USA tend to develop organisations/groups working on newbuild rail and upgrades that exist beyond the scope of a...

If Willem-Alexander can accumulate hours as co-pilot on regular scheduled KLM flights, I don't see that dedicated rolling stock is justifiable for the House of Windsor.

Guess we'll have to make sure the H-locos don't have a flammable coating on their tanks.

In 2019 I can remember flying from Manchester Airport 4 times, all within the EU with Lufthansa, leaving Friday and returning Monday. One time, I took the train from Moses Gate, changed at Salford Crescent, then again at Piccadilly. The other 3 times I drove to Chorlton and took Metrolink from...

First class is used by solicitors to allow travel time to also be working (i.e billable) time. Not sure how common it is for lawyers to travel to or from Aberystwyth, but some visitors to the University may find the more work-compatible environment attractive even if those who work at UoW can't...

If you want to make freight greener, then use transesterification of lipids extracted from algae to produce biodiesel. It's substantially more efficient than producing biodiesel from food-crop oils. The main barrier at present (afaik) is increasing the batch size to get a commercially viable...

Funny things about housing developments is that people tend to need transport links... Is there anything about this freight line which makes it unsuitable or awkward to use for passenger trains catering to the new residents of the former waste site? Edit: having perused the maps, it looks like...