Recent content by cirdan

So basically doing what the current shipping route via the Suez Canal does, but cutting out Suez and inserting a rail segment into the middle instead? Trains might be faster (if the various countries concerned can work together and streamline border formalities) but depending on the details...

I wonder how they envisage the onward movement of trains into Europe? I guess they would have to trace up the Gulf coast of Saudi, where a railroad is proposed but, apart from some shorter bits shared with other projects, not yet built. There are proposals to eventually extend this coastal route...

That is, if there will still be any Superliners in 15 years.

I understand there is also a tendency among especially smaller operations to de skill and and contract out maintenance to specialist contractors (who are often identical to the manufacturers, but need not necessarily be). This is often a necessity in view of the increasing difficulty of hiring...

That's quite an impressive learning curve for Brightline staff. Going from being a new facility just a few years ago and hiring people, many of who had presumably never done train maintenance before, and thus having to hit the ground running, to now having sufficient proficiency and reputation...

I am not sure if it would be possible to get a new railroad anywhere near to Houston downtown without either extremely costly eminent domain of huge numbers of properties or sharing tracks with an unwilling freight railroad.

I rode these in Denmark several times, including once on the train to Hamburg via the Rodby - Puttgarden train ferry. I understand this train ferry has since been discontinued in favor of a bus bridge feeding the ferry. The ferry will eventually be replaced by a combined highway and rail tunnel...

Spain used to have some as well. They later got rebuilt with more conventional front ends. Israel had some too, and possibly still does today.

Welcome to Amtrak Unlimited.

When Germany retrenched its night-train network 10 years ago or so, some of the more popular routes were replaced by night-time ICE trains. This was a huge step backwards in terms of comfort, especially for the high end categories, but even for coach travelers as the seats did not recline as...

Here is an interesting discussion on the the topic of eminent domain. The three examples cited are maybe counter-intuitive to some as the public utility described in these examples was only indirect. The take away would seem to be that the powers of eminent domain are more far-reaching than many...

and the switch in that picture is for an industrial spur, right?

I would also postulate that an ageing population would lead to more people who, for reasons of age and/or health, are not able or at least not willing to drive their own vehicles. Until self-driving cars become common, this would mean more people will be using public transportation (of all...

They might want to leave a clear signature showing who (as in which organization or cause) did it, but still want to escape personal responsibility / consequences. The possibility of being able to get away and vanish might lower the threshold to being willing to engage in such attacks.

I think it has highlighted to terrorists across the world how easy it is to take down major infrastructure. Civil navigation does not typically enjoy the same level of protection and security as does aviation, and malicious agents might be able to take control of a ship and intentionally cause...