Railway

First Tesla Diner opens in Hollywood Tesla opened its first diner in Hollywood. The concept combines a Tesla charging station with foods and drinks as in a diner. The idea is that patrons spend the time it takes to charge their car batteries at the diner. Here they can eat fast food, buy Tesla merchandise or watch a movie on the big outside screens. The biggest appeal of this diner seems to be its retro-futuristic design - it apparently cannot decide if it is from the future or from the 1950s. Also people cannot seem to decide yet if this concept is going to be top or flop. According to reports on the web, long queues mainly form when the touchscreen stations for ordering food are broken. Also the popcorn-making humanoid robot apparently needs some time off in between. Will such fanciful service stations become the norm as electric vehicles are becoming more widespread, offering drivers a good time while they wait for their vehicles to be charged? Or will this concept become obsolete as soon as charging times reach the range of just a few minutes? In my humble opinion, the concept of the Tesla diner is a sign that the fully self-driving Tesla is not around the corner yet, as the really autonomous car could go charging by itself while the driver is doing something more worthwhile. Competition for the ICE - German company Flixtrain to launch high-speed trains The German company Flixtrain - together with Flixbus a subsidiary of Flix - announced its plans to enter the market for high-speed trains in Germany and also in Europe. It ordered 65 train sets at Spanish company Talgo. Its competitor Deutsche Bahn ordered the same trains, the difference is only that Flix will buy the locomotives from Siemens instead of Talgo. With this order the Deutsche Bahn will for the first time have serious competition in the long-distance passenger market. Flixtrain plans to beat its rival with cheaper fares and mandatory seat reservations. The passenger potential seems to be there, yet questions remain if they can get non-discriminating access to the tracks and also to the booking system of the Deutsche Bahn. And even if their concept is good, they still have to suffer from the overloaded and ailing railway infrastructure in Germany. I wish them all the best in their endeavor, as only real competition can bring about real improvements for the passengers. Title image generated with ChatGPT

The CEO of Deutsche Bahn has to go German trains used to run on time, but that was a long time ago. Over many decades, underinvestment in infrastructure has turned the once proud railway system into a daily nuisance for everyone who has to use it. Travelers, commuters and shippers alike suffer from it. The sad low point came last year, when Germany hosted the European Football Championship and international guests were faced with a transportation chaos. At the same time, the Deutsche Bahn accumulates one loss making year after the other. Fixing this situation would be the crowning achievement of any manager. Yet the top job in the state-owned company comes with a lot of additional constraints, as the CEO has to cope with the demands of changing governments, constant interference in their work and with chronic underfunding. So far, no one has succeeded in this daunting task. Now we have one more person who unfortunately could not finish the job. Richard Lutz, who took over the top position in 2017, was fired by the new Minister or Transport, Patrick Schnieder. Lutz could neither stop the losses nor make the trains more punctual, with punctuality reaching a record low of 62% last year (and remember, a train still counts as punctual if the delay is not higher than 5 minutes). A successor still needs to be found, until then Mr. Lutz stays in charge. We can just hope that the new man - or woman - on the job has more luck. Yet the real change that has to happen is that the government commits to a long-term plan of the railway system and also provides the funding. Even though it has increased, the per-capita spending for railway infrastructure is too low compared with other European Countries. It will take many more Euros, and likely even more time, to fix the German railway system and prepare it for the future. ...

Autonomous Rail/Road Transport Vehicle to be Evaluated in California American startup Glid Technologies announced a partnership with Mendocino Railway to operate their autonomous transport vehicles. The idea of their “GliderM” vehicles is to automate the first and last mile of intermodal transport. The vehicle that looks like a truck can travel both on roads and on tracks. It is supposed to pick up a container autonomously, then move it across streets and railway tracks. It might compete with the autonomous railway cars that Parallel Systems is developing (see my blogpost here). This idea reminds me of other combined rail/road vehicles, like the “Rail-Road Bus” that the German Railways used in the 1950s. Click here to see some original footage. As the idea is not really new, I wonder what they see as their unique selling proposition. Unfortunately Glid’s company homepage is very low on details of the concept. Hopefully I can do a further evaluation once more information is made available by the company. Ekranoplans Making a Comeback? Ekranoplans - or Wing-in-Ground Effect (WIG) - are airplanes that can fly directly above the water surface. The main user of these airplanes was the Red Army, who planned to use them to transport goods and troops quickly to enemy beaches. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the idea came out of fashion. Now activities in China and the US indicate a comeback could be imminent. China appears to develop a new WIG, the “Bohai Sea Monster”, as Navalnews.com reports. With the ongoing thread of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, it needs little imagination what the intention is. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the American research agency DARPA worked on the Liberty Lifter concept. The goal of this program was to develop a new WIG concept, usable both for Military and civilian scenarios. In contrast to the Chinese efforts, no prototypes are yet in sight. Still it appears the Ekranoplans could populate the World’s waters once more. Blended Wing Bodies Coming to Civilian Aircraft? Blended Wing Body aircrafts promise improved efficiency and additional space for seating or cargo. While the original idea is more than 100 years old, its application has so far been largely restricted to military aircraft. The American B2 bomber is the most prominent one. But now two innovative startups want to bring this concept to the civilian sector: JetZero and Natilus. This video by the German platform Airliners.de explains the pros and cons of Blended Wing Bodies in detail and why now seems to be the right time for a comebock of this idea. Title Image by Glid Technologies.

Hypersonic Aircraft Powered by Hydrogen Following NASA, also the European Space Agency ESA plans to develop a hypersonic aircraft. The European INVICTUS project even goes one step further and aims add an environmentally friendly propulsion system using Hydrogen. In addition, the aircraft is supposed to take off horizontally, so it can start and land at conventional airports. As hypersonic airfact travel close to space, this shall one day provide convenient access to space travel. Yet this is still science fiction - NASA estimates the development will take decades and predicts commercial travel in the 2050s. Czech Railways End Traditional Dining Car Service Some sad news from the Czech Railways CD. They plan to decomission their old-style dining cars on the trains connecting Prague with Berlin and Hamburg. They will be replaced by modern Bistro cars. Gone are the days where you would get your traditional Czech Roast with dumplings, prepared in an actual kitchen and served on a table with table linen. It was the last dining car where you could get to feel like you were in the “Old Europe”. Now also this train arrives in the present. Too bad I never had the chance to dine in one of those cars. Snake on a Globe Ever since I got my first mobile phone - a Nokia - I love playing Snake. I also love maps. This browser game is the perfect combination of both - you play Snakes on globe! You guide the snake from one city to the next. The next city is randomly chosen, and you only see the city’s name. You need a good knowledge of geography to find the shortest way and get the highest score. A perfect way to pass your time and test your geography. Also have a look at the author’s other projects, he has a knack for visualisation of information. After spending more time than intended playing snake, here is another way to spend countless hours! Title Image: ©️ESA

An American startup is on a mission to change rail freight forever. They want to introduce self-driving, autonomous freight cars. The idea is to make rail freight more flexible and cost-effective, and to get more freight on the rails. Let’s take a look at what the future of freight could look like.

Well, just about everything needs energy. But there are a few transportation systems that use energy that is already available and not used for anything else. In this article, I want to show you three solutions that require no oil to be pumped, no coal to be burned, and no electricity to be generated.

Drought, drones and maglevs: These are the transportation news stories I found noteworthy in the last two weeks.

The people of Ukraine have been fighting Russian aggression for more than 18 months. The Ukrainian railways have played a crucial role in the defense and survival of the state. But how have they managed to do this under constant bombardment by Russian bombs and with shortages of almost everything? In this article, we take a look at what the brave men and women of Ukrainian Railways are doing to overcome these obstacles, and what network operators can learn from them.

Warren Buffet and James J. Hill - two tycoons of American industry who lived a hundred years apart. Yet they had something in common.{{ double-space-with-newline }}In this article, I explore the connection between one of the greatest capitalists of our time, Warren E. Buffet, and railroad magnate and “Empire Builder” James J. Hill.

The German Railway Museum in Nuremberg is currently showing the special exhibition “Futurails”. It shows how many alternatives to the railway system have been discussed over the course of 200 years. With an excellent selection of exhibits, it gives the visitor an idea of all the ideas that clever people have come up with, and tries to explain why the railroad still looks pretty much the same 200 years later.