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As I recall, the guidance comes from a sophisticated Driver Advisory System which knows about the ATO on the core. While the driver is actually in control outside of the core, the on-board computers tell them how to drive so that they'll slot straight into their path. Otherwise, the transition...

What you'll see is that the MML 'fast' timetable will be optimised on serving Leicester. Designing a timetable is about maximising benefit (normally represented as ticket revenue), with additional stops adding more passengers and ticket revenue in one sense but then reducing the attractiveness...

There has never been significant discussion of terminating HS2 services at Nottingham. A spur was one of the options considered in the Phase 2 route selection process but it was rejected for a variety of good reasons. The MML operator won't be competing with HS2, because it's only going to be...

The Thameslink automation systems get progressively more applied as trains get closer to the core. Out at the far reaches of the network, it'll be off completely, but as trains approach the core it'll give the driver more and more guidance. This gives a smooth transition from full driver control...

I see that people are falling into the normal trap of assuming that automation will require novel signalling systems to be installed deliberately. When autonomous vehicles will be able to handle travelling in two dimensions in a far wider range of circumstances, it's laughable to suggest that...

In the short term, yes. In the very long term (as in, going beyond 2043) I think there is quite a reasonable case for a new pair of tracks. Any HSR spur into Edinburgh would merge back onto the Slateford line just west of the A720 in a first phase, leaving the tunnel to be built as a later phase...

In an early version of the IEP plans, the DfT said that there was a possibility of Transport Scotland ordering 20 or so of them for its long distance services. Obviously nothing came of that, but that makes sense. The AT300 design is meant for a 140mph max speed, when the trains would never go...

Buying new bi-modes would also be cheaper. There's also no reason why a Project Thor train would be any better than a purpose-built bi-mode at any task. Indeed, it would probably be worse, as the distribution of components would all be wrong. On the Hitachi sets the pantograph and transformer...

Sometimes easier than soft rock, if you don't need to support every cavern. You can get lovely effects like on the Stockholm metro with the exposed rock forming the walls and ceilings of the station caverns. I had similar ideas about tunnelling under Waverley before. The big thing that's more...

Nothing was said about the price paid when the Voyagers were sold to Beacon Rail. The previous owner may have seen the writing on the wall, with the combination of mainline electrification, future diesel emissions regulations, the low cost of new trains and the success of the AT300 product...

The Leamside line would almost certainly be electrified if reopened. Otherwise, existing electric services would need to be converted back to diesel in order to run on it. In my view the most likely reopening would be as a higher-speed bypass of Durham, leaving the existing route for use by...

Fitting dedicated luggage/activity compartments to the rural trains is almost certainly dependent on new trains. I wonder if they're looking at the cost of new trains and thinking of replacing the 156s and 158s sooner rather than later.

A heavy rail spur was considered as an option for EARL originally. It was rejected in favour of the tunnel because it could only allow a shuttle service to run into the city centre and to the relatively unpopulated part of Scotland east of Edinburgh. The tunnel meant that no additional services...

Interestingly, the CAF plant at Beasain will actually be less than a kilometre away from the standard-gauge European rail network soon enough. Unfortunately it's the new high speed line through the Basque country and it's going to be in a deep tunnel along the valley side at this point. The...

I know what you're getting at here but please remember the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party is just as enthusiastic about the A9/A96 dualling/upgrade works. It's not a grand nation-building folly by the SNP, despite what the other posters have alluded to. There is intense public demand...

Cumbernauld to Greenhill junction is part of the primary EGIP wiring even though no electric trains could actually use it. The feeder station is at Greenhill and it's best to just install the OHLE to provide the supply connection onto the Cumbernauld line.

Hasn't South Gyle gone down to 2tph each way? If it were to be closed, it should be slowly wound down so that everyone else has a chance to adjust. For travel into the city centre the tram provides an alternative option. The people getting off there for Edinburgh Park shouldn't be much more...

I'm well aware that smaller, targeted interventions can easily have much higher BCRs. Very small schemes can have BCRs in the double digits. My belief is though that the idea that spending £3 billion on all of these things instead would be massively, enormously better than spending it on one...

The A9/A96 dualling is a programme proposed and implemented by a democratically elected government. While you might not think it is the best use of money, it is the 'will of the people' that it should go ahead. There's no great political campaign against it (other than the standard whinging from...