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There are a few different possible causes of this rise beyond just more people dodging fares more 1. Electronic ticketing has increasingly become the standard, with the vast majority of tickets now either e-tickets bought online, or mobile ticketing, unless they are a season ticket on a...

The requirements for a train differ quite significantly from those of an EV, meaning typically different battery chemistries are used, with LTO being the usual choice for rail applications. LTO cells have a slightly lower energy density than typical EV chemistries, but can be charged and...

This isn't entirely true. Full power will be drawn when accelerating to max speed, which will occur at medium to high speeds where the power of the motors can be fully applied to the rails. At low speeds the acceleration of the train is limited by rail adhesion, so full power cannot physically...

That conflict only arises when the density is low enough and few people are walking around the neighbourhood. In denser areas security is provided not by cul de sacs, but by the social control of lots of people being out and about who can see and intervene if they see something happening (even...

The difference is that fare evision can result in a criminal prosecution rather than a civil prosecution as is the case for speeding and parking tickets, unless it is serious enough for the CPS to be interested. That alone makes fighting even clearly unreasonable and disproportionate penalties...

Frankly this whole situation is absolutely ridiculous. If 'the railway' is capable of selling a ticket with a railcard discount, it should be capable of displaying that said ticket is only valid at the times where the railcard discount is valid. How that is implemented in the back end systems...

By far the biggest oversight are the platform heights in the core. They should have been built to standard 915mm height (with all non-compliant platforms East and West adjusted to the standard) and the trains ordered accordingly to enable level boarding throughout.

I'm fairly certain you can get level boarding at 915mm for a high speed train without needing to majorly compromise on bogies. The Stadler SMILE platform is designed for 250km/h with level boarding at 780mm, for example. The same design allows for level boarding at 550mm as well using exactly...

If I remember correctly, there is provision in the new EES launch date for a transitional period during which the enrollment process can be skipped or applied selectively in order to avoid crowding and delays, so hopefully any disruption can be kept to a minimum by only enrolling a certain...

I think that is a bit harsh. DB are offering 10,000 extra seats and 14 extra football specials per day for the duration of the Euros, along with special low-cost 29.90 EUR tickets as add-ons for those who have match tickets to encourage them to use public transport to get there. There are...

Adopting the European practice of allowing bus-only traffic signals using white dots is an absolute no-brainer. Bus drivers can easily be trained to follow them, while the fact they look different to normal traffic lights means there is much less risk of confusion for ordinary drivers and bus...

If you know your way around the rather complex web of possible ticketing options, then it can often be a bit cheaper to split tickets for the Munich - Zurich ECE somewhere between St. Margrethen, Bregenz and Lindau. This is because DB often offer cheaper "domestic" advances than international...

Yes, pretty common in the nordics and in some German speaking countries (e.g. Westbahn, SOB Traverso, DB IC2). Generally a hot drinks machine and a snack/ soft drink vending machine. You have to be a bit careful to choose vending machines that can handle the vibration, but these are readily...

The key benefit of franchising, aside from the ticketing, is that it allows network-level planning to be done in a way that isn't really practical for a commercial operator looking to maximise short-term revenues. If you actively design a bus network to encourage modal shift, then you can...

I would assume it would be similar and/or based on Fairtiq. If your fares structure isn't extensively based on advance fares, then it works pretty well and is in use in numerous places in Europe.

The solution to that is simple - you play an (automatic) announcement on the original platform periodicially before the train departs and ensure all the information boards are updated immediately. And you make sure there is a train describer board at the entrance to every platform so that...

My issue is that there often does not seem to be a higher level strategic overview of the rail system and the public transport system in general. Longer-term goals and targets, ideally with cross-party support need to be defined (e.g. a specific percentage of modal shift, reduction in miles...

Public transport is exactly what we should be encouraging people to use during large events like football matches, and running extra or longer trains when there is clearly additional demand and the track capacity is there (10pm is hardly the morning peak) should be the norm, not something...

SBB (along with numerous other European operators) have them fitted to their more modern train fleets (e.g. the FVD units) They work fine, but do have some quirks. The treated wastewater is collected in a tank until it is full, after which it must be heated up to sterilise it, before it is...

I think by fundamental interest they mean that it is an aspiration with clear demand and political will , but all the challenges described in detail in the Jon Worth article mean that they don't currently view it as realistic in the short term. Therefore if there are developments which would...