Recent content by zwk500

Yes, they were specially rebuilt to the UIC profile so are 760mm above rail level and further back from the rail than UK platforms. They could of course be rebuilt back to UK profile, for a cost. You'd need to adjust quite a lot to have a domestic platform backing onto an international...

Can Hitachi (be bothered to) redesign the 80x concept for effective level boarding at 915mm? The GBR Rolling Stock strategy was very clear that all new stock would be, unless on a captive network. Stadler FLIRTS are also fairly standard, have a 125mph variant (not that XC actually need more...

I expect in a world of increasing Bi-Modes and BEMUs the case to wire purely for operational flexibility is going to get incredibly thin.

At Church Fenton this benefit is essentially non-existent because Platform 3 is the only platform with access to either route, and the signalling for platforms 1 and 2 means you can't reverse, nor can you shunt at the south end. The only situations in which the flexibility could be used would be...

In the Network Statement, the total cost to London St Pancras High Speed (formerly HS1 Ltd) which would be billable to the TOC(s) using St Pancras International is a Qualifying Expenditure (Operating & ongoing maintenance Costs) of £5.2m and a Long-term Cost (budgeting for future repairs and...

Worth clarifying that the DART trains are all 5-car units, so a 10-car train is 2 units coupled. There's also going to be an otherwise-identical EMU version of the train to replace the existing DART Fleet.

Distributing the most cost intensive part of the operation isnt going to make it any cheaper to operate.

Batteries should 100% be built into every new EMU. It is an entirely foreseeable situation for the power to need to be turned off for a wide variety of reasons (failure, incident, or maintenance), and once the OLE is off the backup batteries can only last so long. Getting trains to the nearest...

Interesting bits in there, especially in the linked answer at city hall: Which suggests the Mayor is targeting Virgin or Trenitalia to stop there, rather than Eurostar. Will be interesting to see which operator decides the costs of including Stratford are worth it, if any.

This post: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/proposed-new-channel-tunnel-services-discussion.276246/page-90#post-7938988 Claims Eurostar are relinquishing their rights to Ashford International.

The service via parkway is to preserve route knowledge for diversion if the direct chord or Bristol Temple Meads is unavaiable for any reason. This thread is also related to the services...

This is entirely dependent on how the specific system handles the braking curve in relation to block sections, and how it shows the aspects/limit of authority.

I think it's not quite a full ban - IIRC Steam Engines must not be brought to a stand with the chimney under an insulator, but they can be passed for the line. AIUI the Insulators for the OLE on the metro are plastic, and so if the chimney is directly below them for a period of time they have a...

That's not that surprising when you consider the operational issues with electrified terminals. Especailly ones loading overhead or handling fuel cargoes. The problems could all be overcome, of course (there do exist electrified terminals in the UK) but it's all additional costs in a fairly...

as the post says 'and then road' so it'd be presumably via M5 and M4.