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I make this post not knowing how planning on CR2 has progressed up to now, but you could probably build all of CR2 segregated. My understanding is that CR2 adds an extra pair of tracks along the SWML between New Malden and Wimbledon where all its branches are to a segregated station at...

The way you'd do a "guaranteed connection" is as follows and is fairly standard practice pretty much anywhere. 1. The branch line train arrives (in this case from Windermere) - probably 5 mins in advance of the mainline train. 2. The main line train arrives. 3. The main line train leaves. 4...

I'd point out that the interstate system was all built in a very short space of time, post WW2. America was built on the railways, but several things kind of counted against them. Largely speaking, when the railways had a monopoly on transport (which was true pretty much everywhere in the world...

I mean that's just silly....... (and largely endemic of the failures in the franchising system)

Again, I still think we agree. I'm just saying that that happens anyway, and that the benefit that a minority of people get for being lucky enough to have 2 or more operators on their line is outweighed by the benefits of regionalised operation. I think the LNWR v. VT example is better...

You're right, my apologies, although £8.6bn seems very cheap for road construction - especially given things like the land-purchase requirements. A quick Google doesn't find anything else, though. I also hadn't realised fuel duty brought in £28 bn /year.

I think we agree - the point I'm making is that for the majority of people, this is true anyway. Yes, there is some redundancy when multiple operators run on any given line, but that isn't true for the majority of journeys, so it won't make much difference to most people. This isn't like...

Yes, but you'd probably have to improve the public transport offering first. Fundamentally, a big part of why there's such a consistent uproar in this country about increasing the costs of driving, is that for a lot of people, driving is really the only "sensible" option. They may have a 4 x...

So, just to correct anyone under the common misconception that road taxes (vehicle excise duty) are revenue generating. The cost of building and maintaining roads exceeds the total revenue of VED by several orders of magnitude. Your income tax and council tax pay for roads. If you use public...

I would posit that there has been some minor leak vis-a-vis the Williams review and devolution and the mayor is just playing a bit of politics by bringing it up first. There are already quite a few hints that devolution is the direction the review is going, so it could be that tfl are getting...

Despite the long paper about 'modern' priority techniques in Melbourne some of the tram routes still switch points with a stick. The driver gets out (with their stick) and switches the points. You can see this at the junction of Balaclava Road and Hawthorn Road.

Not sure I'm OK with sentient trains operating South Eastern. Skip DOO, straight to TOO.......

Melbourne has named lines for the trains although they're just named after the destinations but they're still line names (the Frankston line to Carrum etc. )

So, as someone who lives in Melbourne, and uses the 96, I would suggest that Melbourne is not a great example of how to do trams. Fundamentally, Melbourne just never lost its original trams from the 1900s (unlike the UK), so the trams have the major problem of being unbearably slow (they are...

For those asking 'why not more 380s' the answer is simple. The manufacturer doesn't make them anymore. They were the last of the Siemens Desiro UK, I believe. Their current offering is the Desiro City (classes 700, 701 and 707), which is also new stock with all the same risks as the Hitachi...

So, for street running trams to be worth while (and better than buses), they need to spend a non trivial amount of time separated from cars. The space in which to do this anywhere near Cambridge City centre is frankly negligible. You'd never get them up Trinity Street or Bridge Street (too many...

As designed by an American town planner....... It's very true that US cities had already started to replace their trams with buses well before the 'scandal', but the power of the road lobby in the states should not be underestimated. The reason the US has such strict jaywalking laws is because...

So, a couple of things jump out at me reading this thread. The first, is that there is scepticisc around the reality of the great American streetcar scandal. This is historical fact, and is well documented The second, is that the road lobby was frighteningly powerful, to the point where town...

It has to be noted that public perception is a huge deal for tfl and I can't make that point strongly enough. It's why they spend an awful lot of money on things like staffed stations, cleaning, aggressive graffiti removal, fast and varied information and, above all else, branding. One of the...

The main problem with any upgrades to the Durham Coast line is paths from Sunderland to Newcastle (and specifically at Sunderland), which are all eaten by the Tyne and Wear Metro. Without re-opening 2 platforms at Sunderland, you just couldn't fit the trains in anyway, even if reversing at...