Atomic Systems

But why not go the whole hog and re-nationalise the buses as well? Although that would actually kill off some of these companies. Why stop there? What about the airlines? What about the road haulage industry? Shipping lines? And what about, dare I suggest - the private Car? If 'The State' is permit...

Relief Services do still operate, and are very often pre-planned, sometimes weeks in advance, depending on the confirmation of date/time of the event. For something like a football match, where huge crowds are expected around known times, then that can involve quite a considerable increase in the le...

- WCML Upgrades Essential - the West Coast infrastructure was in need of major renewal (much of it was untouched since electrification in the 1960s/1970s). Introducing a new fleet was a necessary step - remember the knackered 86+Mk2s were still working Euston-Birmingham services, even Intercity kne...

A few corrections to corrections - Fiat-Ferroviaria's ETR4xx-series Pendolini are the predecessors of the Class 390 - APT-P only provided knowledge and experience to that development program. Class 220/221s are of the same family with slightly different specifications. Class 91s have never tilted an...

johncard - Short term sticking plasters, not a long-term solution. DaFT aren't interested in anything other than IEP - one of the options for IEP deployment is on the West Coast semi-fasts (unbelievably, Kings X-Kings Lynn is another option - causing a few raised eyebrows). With the continued dither...

I did not realise the loops were so long; I take your point about the four loops. If a 100mph freight train was in front of a Eurostar west of Ashford( by one signal block), then will the Eurostar be affected - slowed down? Yes it would be - but then again you wouldn't plan for and should not opera...

Work has already begun on Kings Cross roof refurbishment - and it is being done with the station open. Trying to close KGX for anything longer than one or two weekends a year is suicidal, and would not be tolerated by any of the operators. A closure from midnight to 10am every Sunday is a workable p...

MoonKid47 wrote:Anyways guys, whats this free travel about?

Staff Pass - for railway employees, valid on their employer's services.

NEEC (as in the Knights of NEEC ?) are to receive 90s+Mk3s, but in addition, NEEC are franchised to be the operators of the prototype Intercity Express Programme trainsets (better known as APT-P ...). This will consist of ten half-sets and should be introduced around 2011. As they will only be proto...

You wouldn't think it, but having open containers of alchol is against railway by-laws. Is it? Not according to those available online ( http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/legislation/regs/ ). Byelaw 4(2) only states: Where reasonable notice is, or has been, given prohibiting intoxicating liquor on any...

This means a total of 12 tph from Ebbsfleet to London. differences in top speed are not as importaint on this strech. If you want to add frieght from London to Ebbsfleet, I don't see how you can do it. Maybe limited 100mph frieght in early mornings, late evenings or overnight from Ebbsfleet to Fran...

Matt, I don't suppose you know the answer to this one? I wonder how the plans to upgrade the NLL will effect a possible HS2? HS1 would need to connect to HS2 via the NLL but current plans on display seem to suggest overground services will take up four tracks between St Pancras and Camden. Would ho...

I doubt pure "battery" power will ever be used for trains, but fuel cells are a possibility (really, batteries under another name). They have already been tried on buses, although as yet I don't know the sucess, and really there isn't much between a bus and a DMU traction wise (a lot of DMUs use wh...

Freight on CTRL is always a possibility, if the power/weight ratio can be optimised for the gradients (don't forget that it is gauged for almost any European loco - double-headed Tauruses, anyone?). CTRL could be used for overnight freights on one track of the two, only needing an all-lines possessi...

Perhaps we're missing the wider issues by focusing on rolling stock allocation (as much as we all like to talk about it). There are bigger issues - is the Service Level Commitment correct? Is the network of train service appropriate? And what of journey times? What about growth by exploiting untappe...