Will Dudley Get A National Very Light Rail Innovation Centre?
In London, there are several types of railway.
1. The main lines coming into London like the East Coast Main Line and the London Overground would typically be classified as heavy rail.
2. The London Underground is a metro, underground of rapid transit system. Take your pick on the name, but in London’s case it’s complicated by some Underground trains sharing tracks with heavy rail services.
3. The Docklands Light Railway is probably best described as what it says in the name; a light railway.
4. There is also the Tramlink, which in London is a tram that runs both on-street and on dedicated tracks.
Looking around the world, there are a multiplicity of types of railway and every country seems to have their own versions.
So I was interested to see this article on the BBC web site, which talked about a proposed Very Light Rail Innovation Centre and a new transport link in Dudley in the West Midlands.
So what is very light rail?
I suppose the only truly very light rail system in the UK, is the Parry People Mover in Strourbridge, which is a lightweight vehicle powered by an innovative electric drive train using a flywheel for energy storage.
It is my belief, that as you make vehicles lighter, they become more efficient and this improves the economics. This applies to both road and rail vehicles.
As the Dudley project is backed by the well-respected Warwick Manufacturing Group, I suspect that quite a few influential organisations, will think the Innovation Centre could be a worthwhile project.
This is a project that needs to be watched.
But consider.
1. The Docklands Railway is successful and liked by passengers and operators. So why is it, that there is no similar driverless system using the same technology?
2. How many proposals for trams and light rail systems in the ?UK, have never come to fruition?
3. Every tram system I’ve ever ridden seems to be a one off design from the stations and track to the vehicles and the ticketing system.
We must be able to do better!
And surely a properly-funded Innovation Centre, backed with the right technical resources wiill help us create better urban transport systems in the UK and the wider world.
The Wignacourt Aqueduct
Often, we think that big infrastructure projects are very much something of the last couple of centuries. Just as London built the New River to bring fresh water to the city, Valletta built the seventeenth century Wignacourt Aqueduct to supply water.
Sadly, it is no longer used for water, but it stands there as a reminder of the skills that our ancestors possessed.
Musical Buses In Malta
Malta has an efficient bus network and as everybody speaks English and seem to believe in Old World courtesy and common sense, using them is very easy.
It is an ideal place to play musical buses, where you get on a bus see where it goes, explore the destination and then get another.
You pay a flat daily charge of €1.50 and the driver gives you a ticket, which you show on all future journeys. This fare system could in the future be modified with the appropriate reader, to accept bank cards as tickets.
The bus company is the same as that that runs the 38, I regularly use in London; Arriva.
Some bus systems are impenetrable to visitors, but in Malta, buses are easier to use than those in say Manchester or Sheffield.
Valletta – A Fortified City
Valletta is a city of fortifications.
I took these pictures as I walked in a loop from the bus station, past St. John’s Co Cathedral past Fort St. Elmo and then back along the road overlooking the Grand Harbour. I trhen took a lift to the Upper Barrakka Gardens for views of the Grand Harbour
Sadly the National War Museum in Fort St. Elmo is closed at the present time.
I will return to Valletta again.
Going Gluten-Free In Malta
I know it’s a holiday area, but I had no problems being gluten-free in Malta.
Everybody seemed to be pretty clued-up and I even had very good gluten-free rolls for breakfast in the hotel.
Valletta’s Electric Taxis
I didn’t take a ride, but was intrigued by Valletta’s little electric taxis.
Certainly, it would be a good idea if in cities like London, all taxis were electric.
St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta
St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta is one of the world’s great cathedrals.
It takes your breath away.
Exploring Mdina
I stayed in Mdina, which is a medieval walled town in the middle of the island.
I took these pictures as I walked around the town over the three days I was there.
Crossrail’s Unrecognised Legacy
I have just read this article on the BBC web site, which is entitled Crossrail: Who wants to work in a tunnel?
It contains interviews with those that work underground and shows how Crossrail has gone out of its way to create jobs for those living locally and give them training if required.
It is a classic illustration of how you use a large infrastructure project for which there is an urgent need to get people workimng and give them skills.
I wonder if the Northern Hub and the Borders Railway are having similar effects. If they aren’t, I blame the management and the politicians for not using the right employment model.
Ipswich Town Get Angry
This story on the BBC follows a similar theme to one I wrote a week or so ago.
I remember some years ago, when Stoke Hill tunnel by Ipswich station was enlarged for the larger containers, and passengers were bused from Ipswich to Manningtree, that the rail companies involved ran an exemplary system, backed by copious information and publicity.
So it proves yet again that Abellio Greater Anglia generally see passengers as irrelevant except as cash cows.
The Anonymous Widower 