Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Monday, 01 January 2024

Cogitamus

• 🎉 Happy New Year ! 🎉The team at Cogitamus would like to wish all our readers a happy and prosperous 2024.
• The Christ Stokes Column - December 2024 - Serious rather than magical thinking needed for rail in 2024Policy towards the rail industry appears to be at one with the wider malaise that reflects a tired, divided and demoralised government, bereft of ideas. The effect is the reverse of the Midas touch; everything the Department for Transport touches seems to turn to dross.
• Question 28 - How many stations are there on the Glasgow underground?A. 10 B. 12 C. 15 D. 18
• Question 29 - When was the first speed camera installed in the UK?A. 1992 B. 1994 C. 1996 D. 1998
• Question 30 - What is a nickname of the British Rail Class 142 Pacer?A. Mega Shed B. Nodding Donkey C. Dusty Bins D. Whistling Wardrobes
• Cracker Joke Why can’t train engineers get electrocuted? ... They’re not the conductor.
• Answers Question 28 - C. Question 29 - A. Question 30 - B

Calling All Stations - The Transport Podcast

• Season 2 - May we see the bill please? Legal changes coming for autonomous vehicles and pedicabs but not railwaysChristian and co-presenter Mark Walker delve into the details of UK parliamentary bills covering automated vehicles [1:40] and pedicabs [11:42] and reveal why legislation on railways in Great Britain won't get beyond the draft stage [17:15]. Picking up on the recent UK Government ministerial reshuffle, Christian and Mark look at the biographies and responsibilities of three new office holders in the UK Department for Transport [24:29] before examining the underlying causes of the shortage of orders for new trains from British factories [29:14] and whether restrictions on rail passengers' luggage are anything new [37:09]. [S2, Ep 8]
• Season 2 - How close are we to guilt-free flying, a more perfect Union and prosperous railways?Christian interviews the Aviation Environment Federation's Tim Johnson about just how green the first trans-Atlantic commercial flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel really was [2:40]. Mark Walker and Christian discuss the rail, road and aviation measures contained in the UK Government's response to the Union Connectivity Review [24:14]. Our co-presenters also look at what rail patronage numbers in Great Britain say about post-pandemic recovery [36:53]. Finally, Christian asks what a recent legal decision on 'defeat devices' may expose about cheating on vehicle emissions [46:15]. [S2, Ep9]
• Season 2 - Happy 1st podcast birthday and Eurotunnel’s 30th but UK’s infrastructure chief isn’t happy at allChristian and co-presenter Mark Walker consider the transport news and policy highlights of their first year of podcasting [1:10]. Christian celebrates 30 years of Eurotunnel operations with John Keefe, Chief Corporate and Public Affairs Officer at Getlink Group, asking what the future holds for the conveyance of road vehicles, growth in passenger train usage and expansion of rail freight traffic [5:33]. This is followed by a frank discussion with Sir John Armitt CBE, Chair of the UK National Infrastructure Commission, who reveals his organisation was not consulted about the abandonment of HS2 north of Birmingham in October, that he considers the sale of the acquired land unwise and that Great Britain now needs a new Integrated Rail Plan [24:39]. Finally, Christian praises the work and longevity of London's Railway Modelling Club Library [42:57]. [S2, Ep10]