TiLo
Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia or TiLo is a train company. which is described like this in Wikipedia.
TILO (Regional Trains Ticino Lombardia) is a limited company established in 2004 as a joint venture between Italian railway company Trenord and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), both companies participate in the equity of TILO SA with participation of 50%.
The company’s goal is to develop the regional cross-border traffic between the Canton of Ticino and the Region of Lombardy.
I came across one of their thirty Stadler FLIRT trains at Milan Centrale station.
Note how Stadler have solved the step problem, as compared to the train I took to Navara.
Stadler are producing three fleets of trains for the UK.
- Class 745 trains for Greater Anglia.
- Class 745 trains for Greater Anglia
- Class 777 trains for Merseyrail.
The trains are reported to have gap fillers, like the FLIRT in the pictures.
SBB To Sell Bitcoin
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in Global Rail News.
If you don’t know; SBB stands for Swiss Federal Railways.
It’s an interesting development to say the least!
Especially, when you read the last paragraph.
And you can’t buy SBB train tickets using your shiny new currency, it isn’t an accepted payment method by SBB.
I wonder how long it will be before, I can buy and use bitcoin on a UK rail station?
Glasgow Subway Orders New Trains From Stadler
This article in Global Rail News is entitled New trains for Glasgow Subway. This is said.
Stadler Bussnang AG and Ansaldo STS have won the contract to supply Glasgow Subway with its first new trains for almost 40 years.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has today (March 4) released images of the new driverless trains, having awarded the £200 million contract.
Stadler is a Swiss manufacturer of rail vehicles, that is not very well known in the UK. Although, some of their products have been sold to run here.
- Six Variobahn trams run on London Tramlink.
- Thirty-two Class 68 diesel locomotives have been delivered or are on order from Vossloh, which since 2015 has been a subsidiary of Stadler. Six are used by Chiltern Railways.
- Ten Class 88 electro-diesel locomotives have also been ordered from Vossloh.
The trams are very much a standard product, but the locomotives are unusual in that they have been specially built for the UK’s restrictive loading gauge. Wikipedia says this about the company.
Stadler Rail is also focused on niche products and is one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock.
Look at the products they make and quite a few are not mainstream.
So as the Glasgow subway is small and to an unusual gauge and size, it is not very surprising that Stadler are involved in producing the new trains.
I don’t think that this will be the last order we’ll see for Stadler products in the UK.
This article from the Railway Gazette is entitled Stadler Rail switches its focus from east to west. This is said.
Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail has announced plans to shift the focus of its growth plans away from the CIS and Middle East markets and towards the UK and the USA.
On June 19 Stadler said the Swiss national bank’s decision to uncouple the franc from the euro in January had brought a sudden 20% increase in the price of its products, which was ‘negatively impacting’ the company. Meanwhile, planned expansion into the CIS market has been ‘halted’ by the weak rouble and sanctions on Russia. Stadler has also ‘fallen well behind expectations’ in the Arab market.
With all the new rail franchises starting in the next few years, I think we’ll see some orders. Certainly with all its expansion plans Tramlink will need a few more trams and if the Class 68/88 locomotives are successful, then other companies might purchase some more.
One very large niche order are new cars for the Docklands Light Railway.
But I also think we’ll see a few Stadler Flirts in the UK, as they seem to be selling well.
Uncertainty In Basel
The train arrived in Basel on time, but due to a misunderstanding with the public address, I got out at the German station rather than the Swiss one.
So I lost about half-an-hour on my way to Mulhouse. I then had to go to virtually a separate station to get my French train.
Surely for reasons of efficiency, the three stations should be more integrated.
What’s Gone Wrong With Danny Welbeck?
I’ve always thought that Danny Welbeck wasn’t as good as others say he is.
But his performance today in scoring two goals for England in Basle against Switzerland tonight, impressed me a lot more.
Can it be that the drifting ship that Manchester United has become over the last few years, was unsettling him? Moving to Arsenal seems to have released his shackled mind!
Perhaps, Wayne Rooney needs to move to freshen him up?
A Welcoming Lith In Geneva
This excellent lith with a map and information, was placed just out of Geneva station on the way to the lake.
A Welcoming Lith In Geneva
Every station exit in the world should have one!
I can’t find anything about these liths and their maps on the Internet.
From Milan To Geneva
The train journey from Milan to Geneva goes through the lakes and mountains and the Simplon Tunnel.
It is a journey that must be one of the most spectacular in a train on a regular rather than a tourist service.
It is also pretty fast, as my journey took under four hours. It’s not expensive, as for the 17th November, you can book the same train for just £20 and First Class for £110. By comparison London to Newcastle on the same day at a similar time are showing at £60 and £90 respectively for a journey an hour shorter.
More CERN Photos
There are more CERN photos uploaded here to Flickr by other visitors from our Liverpool University Alumni Relations group.
By The River Rhone And Lac Leman
You’re never far from water in Geneva.
I tried to get a picture of the sun creating a rainbow in the fountain, but I failed.
Note that I have called the lake Lac Leman. My father said that he lived in the city for some time, when he worked at the League of Nations. He may or may not have worked there, but he was particular, that it was called Lac Leman. According to a friend, locals always call it thus. In some ways my father was secretive about his past, but the more I find, the more his tales ring true.
Geneva’s Flower Clock
This is apparently famous.
Geneva’s Flower Clock
I couldn’t get any good pictures as there were always masses of Asian tourists in front of it.
The Anonymous Widower 