Unmanned heavy-lift cargo drones could reshape the world of air freight. Jon Excell talks to Dronamics, one of the firms at the forefront of this aviation frontier. Disruptive innovations often have the most unlikely origin stories. In the case …
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Monday’s Friday Reads – 14 April 2025
• London Euston completely closed, no trains to Milton Keynes Central, on Easter Weekend (Rail Advent) • Construction of Sheffield in-fill tram-train stop gets underway (Metro Report) • Longer trains planned as new Northumberland Line …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 7 April 2025
• Second HS2 tunnel reaches Greenford, completing Western Northolt tunnel (Ian Visits) • Nancy replaces single-rail TVR gadget-bahn with modern battery trolleybuses (Streetsblog) • Manhattan Congestion Pricing Not Rerouting Traffic to Other Boroughs (Streetsblog) • …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 21 March 2025
• London’s black cabs destined for extinction in 20 years, TfL warned (Guardian) • London’s Most Controversial Bus, the BYD BD11 Reviewed: Video (Network Nathan) • Britain’s Bike-Friendliest ‘New Town’ Is a Model for Car-Free …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 17 March 2025
• The Mother of All Inventions… (Roger Farnworth) • Urban Rail in Africa (Reece Martin) • The Saunders Roe Queen: The Cruise Liner Flying Boat: Video (Found & Explained) • Why does Tokyo have Two …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 21 February 2025
• Pathfinder 1, The airship that could usher in a new age (BBC) • The Long Modernization of the Italian Railways (Marco Chitti) • MTA looking to dig tunnel underneath Queens cemetery for IBX light …
Continue readingThermal imaging keeps trains on the move during cold snap (RailUK)
Network Rail is using pioneering technology to keep passengers on the move during this week’s spell of extremely cold weather by using thermal imaging drones. The drones, which are now used routinely on the West …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 23 December 2024
• No Tyne & Wear Metro service south of River Tyne due to highway flyover fault (BBC) • New Berlin-Paris high-speed rail service epitomises Europe’s thirst for train travel (RFI) • New York State Governor …
Continue readingShark-style skins are cutting aircraft fuel use, could be applied to high speed trains (IMechE)
Covered in tiny structures known as dermal denticles, the ribbed pattern of shark skin reduces drag across their surface, allowing some species to swim at 50km/h. Others can dart forward even faster over short distances. Such a …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 1 November 2024
• End of “Euston Rush” as train companies improve boarding announce times (Ian Visits) • TfL seizes 1,400 vehicles from drivers who ignore Ulez fines (Guardian) • Local businesses want all of Soho to be …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 21 October 2024
• Possible Scope of Sadiq Khan’s plans for Oxford Street (On London) • TfL Invites Bids for New London Trams Fleet (Rail Technology) • The Rise, Fall, & Rise Again of the Leeds Tram (Railway …
Continue readingHow sustainable are aviation biofuels really? (Anthropocene)
Jet biofuels are not necessarily less carbon intensive than fossil fuels, say researchers. In a side-by-side comparison of emissions, they found some grasses performed best. Two types of perennial grasses offer the greatest global potential …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 2 September 2024
• Unusual London Overground trip via Primrose Hill is possible this coming weekend (Ian Visits) • York’s original railway station to open to public for one Oct weekend only (The Railway Hub) • Heathrow Rail …
Continue readingPlanes still bad: Modern carbon-efficient models worse for climate change than older types (E+T)
A study has found that even though modern commercial aircraft emit less carbon than their predecessors, they could be contributing more to climate change due to their longer-lived planet-warming contrails. Contrails, or vapour trails, are …
Continue readingThe first US airline to launch automated tag for mobility devices (AmericanAirlines)
American Airlines is the first U.S. airline to launch an automated tag for mobility devices, part of an ongoing commitment to improve wheelchair and mobility device handling across its network. Developed in-house by American’s Technology …
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