Recent content by WideRanger

This discussion is giving me flashbacks to a job a did a number of years ago, when I worked in the 'tricky problems' department of one the UK's largest (if not the largest) user of cheques. The banking industry was proposing a clear programme for the phase-out of cheques, and because of our...

Somewhat ironically, the smaller windows on most Shinkansen trains is not a major downside, because they allign perfectly to every seat. Even the rotation of the seat (to ensure they are always facing forward, unless the passengers actively choose otherwise) is around the same axis of symmetry...

At Attenborough, I wonder whether they might replace the level crossing altogether with a bridge somewhere further up the line, in either direction (while retaining a footbridge only at the station). There seems to be space at the Barton Lane level crossing, there is currently a footpath from...

In Tokyo: JR Shinagawa - some platforms for terminating, but as far as I remember few (or none) of them are bays. At lot of terminating trains are from the opposite direction to what I think @TT-ONR-NRN is thinking. Through trains continue on both the surface and in tunnels. Keikyu Shinagawa JR...

Quite a brave assertion. Time is a relative construct. In lots of cases it is defined in the way that is of most use.

In urban and suburban Japan, local buses are often run by the private railway company that is dominant in the area, and routes tend to centre on the railway stations (both the private ones and the JR ones). There is a strong assumption that people take the bus to get to the station, and carry on...

'Gateway to ...' is a metaphor / cliché. The sort of thing that was often used in the past as a marketing tool. I can kind of see why you could describe Crewe as a gateway to the Northwest - as long as you assume travel from London (by train). But it doesn't mean that there is any benefit in...

While it seems there is a mountain to climb, I always thought that cheering on the underdog is a quintessential British value.

Yes, they are generally more punctual than the UK outside of the intensive central parts. And some of the factors mentioned above do play a part. But, I would be careful about drawing too many conclusions. The Shinkansen is a closed system, so doesn't generally pick up routine delays (although...

Urban commuter lines in Tokyo are frequently heavily delayed. It's just not normally that noticeable because the frequency of trains means that there's often a train coming anyway. You can normally tell when it is happening when the departure times are replaced by 'in X mins'. It happens pretty...

There's been a lot of comparison to the TGV on here. I think a better comparison (given the much higher planned frequencies) would be the Japanese Shinkansen. On the fastest or longest routes (and therefore the ones with the highest chance of getting the loadings messed up), many of the trains...

My flat in Japan has its front door facing directly into a station on the Keisei Main Line - 3 metres from door to track boundary, with the lightest of protection (think railings found near UK pedestrian crossings. 3 trains in each direction every 10 minutes, off peak, and passing loops in the...

In my experience, the teams cleaning each carriage tend to finish at around the same time - it is quite a precise and practiced process. So it is unlikely that the time saved by walking between the carriages would be quicker that simply waiting for that carriage to be complete. However, the...

I struggle to understand why the Intercity brand would be brought back for 'the fastest, longest trains'. Among train enthusiasts it has currency, but I doubt many others think about it. But at the same time, it really isn't a clear descriptor. There are lots of trains that run inter-city that...

Oh, happy memories of the 506, 507, 508 and 509, on which NCT put their newest, fastest buses. All totally bonkers, but the drivers clearly enjoyed flooring them (with hardly any passengers) in the limited stop section between Nottingham and Beeston. If I remember correctly, it was a reaction...