Szeged Tram-Train Service Inaugurated
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
The country’s first public tram-train service left Hódmezővásárhely for Szeged at 03.31 on November 29, with guests onboard including János Lázár, the government’s special commissioner for the project, and László Palkovics, Minister of Innovation & Technology.
They are obviously early starters in Hungary.
The Szeged-Hódmezővásárhely Tram-Train has its own Wikipedia entry.
From the Railway Gazette article and Wikipedia, I can ascertain the following.
- It is a 32 km route.
- Journey time will be 51 minutes, with an Off Peak frequency of two trains per hour (tph), with three tph in the Peak.
- The main stations in Hódmezővásárhely and Szeged are served.
- The route between the two cities is not electrified, but has been partially-upgraded to double-track and the speed has been upgraded to 100 kph.
- In both central districts the vehicles run as tram-trains.
The rolling stock will be electro-diesel versions of Stadler Citylink tram-trains.
This pictures show Sheffield Supertram’s Class 399 tram-trains, which are also members of the Stadler Citylink family.
The two tram-trains would appear to be very similar in terms of cab design, passenger compartment and an operating speed of 100 kph.
The question has to be asked, if Sheffield could expand their Supertram network with some electro-diesel tram-trains.
They could be ideal for the proposed service to Stocksbridge, that I wrote about in Reopening The Don Valley Section Of The Former Woodhead Line Between Stocksbridge and Sheffield Victoria To Passenger Services.
The route could be tested using diesel engines on sections without electrification and if the route attracted enough passengers, electrification could be erected.
Manchester Arena Attack: Families ‘Disgusted’ By Memorial Trespassing
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the introductory paragraphs,
Families of people killed in the Manchester Arena attack have said they were “disgusted” after a memorial site for the 22 victims was trespassed on.
The Glade of Light memorial in the city centre remains a building site and does not officially open until the new year.
Two bereaved families said they were appalled to find the security fences pulled down on Sunday.
The article also said this.
Ms Curry said she found hundreds of people were walking through the area, which is supposed to be closed to the public.
She said one man stood on a memorial stone and was abusive when challenged, another woman vomited all over the area, and groups of youths were openly smoking drugs.
I can’t understand what led to this aggressive trespass.
When, I am in certain cities, there does seem to be more low life on the streets than you habitually see in London.
I do wonder, if it is partly because of London’s transport regulations and actions as laid down by the Mayor and Transport for London.
London has an extensive CCTV network and after the London bombings of July the seventh and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005, I’m sure it was improved.
Did the improved CCTV and the police action in the shooting the unfortunate Brazilian, deter a lot of low life from going to the centre?
Ken Livingstone or was it Boris, introduced a policy of banning alcohol on London’s transport system.
The precise details are given in this recent article on the Sun.
I have a feeling it had a positive effect, but did it mean that less drunks found their way to the centre?
In 2011, I sat next to a guy on a Manchester bus going from Piccadilly Gardens to Bury. I noticed that about a dozen youths were harassing the driver, trying to get his fare money and remarked on this to my companion.
My companion on hearing my London accent, said you don’t get that in London because of the contactless ticketing, as there is no fare money on the bus.
I was surprised at his reply and asked him to explain. It turned out he was a Trade Union Official, who looked after bus workers in Manchester. He told me his Union wanted a London-style contactless ticketing system, as it had drastically cut the number of attacks on staff in London.
Having worked with the Metropolitan Police on the analysis of data, they have also found that contactless ticketing helps in the tracing of people through London’s transport network and has solved several serious crimes.
Conclusion
I feel that terrorism and London’s reaction to it, banning of alcohol on public transport, contactless ticketing and other measures have helped keep drunks and those up to no good out of the centre.
Rail Freight ‘Booming’ Because Of HGV Driver Shortage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail News.
These are a few points from the article.
- Tesco currently send 65,000 containers per year by train and are increasing this figure to 90,000.
- Tesco are also planning to run special wine trains.
- Dunelm is reported to have agreed a lease for a new warehouse at the Daventry rail terminal, creating another 70 jobs.
- CB Railfreight is running 400 trains per day.
- GB Railfreight trained seventy drivers in the last year.
- The number of people employed at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, will rise by another 4,000 in January when a new section opens.
One Freight Operations Manager is quoted as saying business is booming. He believes that the truck driver shortage and thought for the environment are driving the growth in rail freight.
The Anonymous Widower 