Edwin_m

Agreed, but I considered you'd covered the non-junction uses pretty comprehensively in your previous post.

With semaphore signalling the normal arrangement approaching a diverging junction would be to have one stop (red/white) signal arm for each onward route, arranged left to right to correspond with the routes themselves. There might also be a distant arm (yellow/black) below some or all of these, plus shunting signals if required. Thus, a junction signal would have to be either a bracket or a gantry. Where space was limited the arms might be arranged top (for leftmost) to bottom (for rightmost) on a single post, but this was very unusual.

You can select track gauge on the link below - it claims to be a beta version but seemed pretty good when I looked at Ukraine. You may wish to click this only if you have several hours to spare! https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ I'd guess the train in question permits bogies to be swapped.

A while ago I got a letter saying a VAT registration had been set up for a company using me as a contact name. I reported it immediately to Action Fraud and went through the process to cancel the registration. I don't know what was intended but as far as I know there were no further consequences.

Gizmo seems to be fairly impermeable - no sign of him at bedtime last night even though it was chucking it down. I worried enough to come down later and he was curled up on the sofa as usual. Possibly he doesn't realise it's raining until the water has found its way through his very long hair.

Most European systems follow the German BOStrab to some degree although it's not mandatory to do so. This doesn't appear to specify voltage but by implication does allow on-street voltages of up to 1500Vdc. The UK guidance references EN51063, which I can't access but may say something on maximum voltage. Thanks for clarification on Jerusalem. I was actually involved in an unsuccessful bid for the extension a few years ago and was trying to remember the voltage.

Thanks for that. So similar to modern tramways elsewhere, which are pretty universally 750V. Possibly because European standards don't apply in Israel.

Do these actually run in lanes with other traffic? The Wikipedia talks about "street level" only.

They've all come to look for America.

Vacuum cleaner is good for that too.

Deleted - quotes terminally messed up.

That's probably what we are getting. Contracts are signed for the line as far north as the WCML connection at Handsacre, and cancelling this probably costs more than finishing it. Noting you've omitted the crucial words "to London" - this scheme does virtually nothing to help with journeys within the Midlands and North. Also worth remembering that the Manchester leg would also be a stepping stone to a fast service between Manchester and Liverpool, using the HS2 tunnel between Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.

One of the main causes of the Carmont derailment was the drainage contractor not building what was designed, and Network Rail not checking.

The EU Technical Specifications for Interoperability require 25kV for high speed lines, although I believe exceptions can be made if there's a good reason. This is aiming to minimise the need for multi-system trains and heading for a seamless network right across the continent, although that goal is decades or possibly centuries away.

A through station needs two difficult and expensive lines into a city centre instead of one, unless we are content to live with "Ryanair stations" on the edges of cities, not well integrated with local public transport. Building more new stations is probably unavoidable. Other countries have much more spare capacity in their major stations than the UK does. And new stations in other countries are often equally palatial. However, if they only go to Old Oak Common then most people are likely to prefer the existing services to Euston, so the HS2 trains will end up being additional and empty, or become unpopular if people are forced to use them because the Euston services are slower or less frequent.

Indeed. There is scope to run some trains via HS2 to Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland, although I believe the Handsacre junction was re-designed to make it cheaper when it wasn't expected to handle more than a couple of trains per hour (Stafford/Stoke and one Liverpool I think). So it may not be able to carry too many trains. However this is mostly academic if OOC to Euston isn't built, as the change at OOC and the extra journey time will probably make HS2 journey uncompetitive with the WCML. The limited capacity to turn back trains at OOC may also limit the number of destinations served.

Generally agreed, but worth noting that safety concerns with live wires in the street are another reason why trams use 750V or less. Incidentally some recent Metro projects have used 1500Vdc third rail.

There are certain business activities that are still best done in person, such technical meetings where you get round the table and point at drawings etc (I've just spent the last two hours trying to follow one of these remotely!). Quicker travel between cities will make these easier, particularly for businesses not based in London.

The bus deregulation legislation allows local authorities to tender for services, but only if they don't compete with a commercial service. I assume there's no question of these buses being commercially viable so the authority is able to specify the network in this case (including, I believe, acceptance of certain rail tickets). The bus franchising just starting in Manchester is different and similar to the situation in London, as the authority has full control over the network and operators can't come in to run their own routes.

That may be true considering the branch in isolation but doesn't make much sense in the context of a wider network. The main line probably has more traffic and therefore a better case for electrification than the branch, so is likely to have been electrified first with 25kV, which makes it much easier to do the branch at the same voltage. Train maintenance also needs to be considered - the branch train would need to be dual voltage to get to the depot via the main line, unless it was hauled "dead" or serviced at a mini-depot on the branch.

There is a test track in the Litchurch Lane works, which I believe can be energised at a variety of voltages.

The idea is that better transport links encourage economic growth, which should in general improve prosperity for all and increase the government's tax take to repay the borrowing. This is what the HS2 business case is intended to assess.

Dublin and Liverpool are officially part of their respective national networks, and a section of the Tyne and Wear Metro (though not within Newcastle) runs on Network Rail. So if it's limiting itself to national networks then it's largely consistent within the UK, except for not showing the short section of 750V tram-train running on Network Rail in Rotherham. A much more specific map is available on the link below - select the Electrification button which claims to be a beta, but looks pretty accurate for the UK at least. https://www.openrailwaymap.org/

The HS2 tracks at OOC are well below the GWML tracks. They could possibly be connected, but only by infilling the huge trench they are currently digging, which would rule out any future extension.

Free Tri-Ang Battlespace missile wagon with every order.