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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    I recently spent time in Silcon Valley and had a ride in a few autonomous vehicles, weather is not a problem now with the next generation equipment. I saw at least 5 different systems when I was there and none of them have to stop in the rain, snow or any other day to day weather. Just...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    It all comes down to changing peoples behaviours and perceptions of the world. I recently had a conversation with someone about self driving taxis, research points to the fact that people will be weary to to use them, so how do we over come that? Well you incentivise people to use them by making...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    It makes no difference if it is a rural area or not, the beacons are only concerned with the locality of the station, it does not need to have a link to the current mobile network. In regards to who pays for it, well that will come from the reduction in staff numbers, in fact there will...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    It is a long discussion, can I suggest you take a look at the articles below and it will give you a better idea. https://futurism.com/images/universal-basic-income-answer-automation/ https://qz.com/1034358/ubi-and-automation-could-be-the-symbiotic-solution-for-displaced-workers/...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    It's ok, i get this all the time, UBI does get this reaction, it scares people and quite rightly so. It is far from a totalitarian state, but, imagine you didn't have to go to work each day, but were given an income so you could then spend your time doing good in the world. It may seem...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    According to the Deloitte Mobile consumer report in 2016, smartphones have 81% penetration in the mobile market and this is will increase by between 2% and 4% in 2017. You don't need 4G coverage as there are localised beacons installed that have push send capabilities, they just need to...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    You do not need the customers contact details to be able to contact them, technology already available today can target smart phones in a pretty localised area and push notifications through to them. All it takes is a localised transmission beacon and hey presto! I am working on a project at...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    The AI is self learning so after it has been populated with basic data it will learn itself going forward based on trends and algorithms. We are at a point now where AI can actually train other AI and humans are out of the link. In regards to what happens when there are no jobs, then we...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    Although not on the railway, I am currently working on a project that will totally replace customer facing staff with AI. I foresee a time in the not too distant future where there are no human staffed booking offices at all (maybe with next 10 years) If you look at the likes of IBM Waton...
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    A while back I met the Innovation Team at DB, they are a very switched on team and working on some exciting projects.
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    Passenger information: the railway needs to catch up

    Rubbish! There is no reason why the railway cannot keep people more informed using current technology. Firstly, I will I declare a conflict of interest here as my job is a Head of Innovation and Future. With the advent of the Internet of Things, there is no excuse for things not being...
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    Problems using a Britrail pass on London Overground (denied travel)

    I am a resident of Dubai but with a British passport, I have used about a dozen Britrail passes over the past 3 years and not been asked for my passport once. apart from the initial validation. I also have the easiest method of buying my passes, I call my travel agent in Dubai, give her my...
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    Paddington Taxi Farce

    Many many years ago, must be around 20 I think, I was traveling from Peterbrough to Cardiff and the wires were down north of Newark. Anyway there were huge delays going into KX which meant by the time I got into London I had missed the last train out of Paddington. I was given the option of a...
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    Welshpax Wanderings

    Despite my username, I have been living and working in Dubai now for almost three years. One of the perks of my job is that I get to travel the world. Most of these trips are just routine, but, I decided to do a trip report for this one as it contains some rail based trips. I was invited...
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    Caledonian Sleeper to Kings Cross

    Actually this makes a lot of sense, there is even a connection from STP to the NLL. it could be done pretty cheaply as well, as infrastructure goes, all it needs is removable glass barriers that can be closed at locked at the top of the escalators in the early morning and again late at...
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    HST Power car used for passenger luggage.

    Many years ago, early 90's I was on a peak hour service from Paddington to Cardiff which was full and standing. At the time there was a seat at the back end of the power car and I was allowed to sit there all the way from Paddington to Cardiff as long as I was quiet and tried not to be seen the...
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    Airline Cabin Crew Safety Critical?

    Again talking about Emirates, most cabin crew there are under 40. They start off working Economy then after around 2.5yrs move up to Business then after another 3 years tend to move up to First. From my chats to cabin crew during my travels, most people leave after about 6 years and go...
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    Jeremy Corbyn's Traingate

    So the crux of the argument is that Corbyn stated the train was ram packed and there was no seats available, hence him sitting in the gangway. So what I am seeing now is that the train was non stop Kings Cross to York and he finally had a seat after 45 minutes. Now, looking at the picture...
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    Airline Cabin Crew Safety Critical?

    I can only speak for Emirates as that is the airline I use the most, but they are still called pursers there, then each cabin (First, Business and Economy) has a Senior who looks after the staff in that particular cabin.
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    Emirates EK521 crashes on landing in Dubai

    I work in an office overlooking the runway at Dubai Airport and saw the whole thing unfolding. Was in a meeting and the phone went off saying that a plane was on fire, looked out the window and could see the passengers being evacuated on to the runway. A couple of minutes later the fire service...

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