This thread is for talking about railways, and things related to railways, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - that means we're all about big intercity trains, modest rural trains, long freight trains, trips, tracks, trams, subways, stations, you get the idea. Trains are cool.

If you're planning a journey, take a look at the nationalrail.co.uk/ journey planner - tell it where you're headed from and to, and it'll show you your options before handing you over to a train company so you can buy a ticket. Doesn't matter which train company, they'll all charge the same price for the same seat on the same journey. Overseas visitors - trip.com and thetrainline.com are your best option.

Here's a few links:
~New rolling stock currently on order, listed (trainlogger.co.uk/units/)
~A Visual History of Railway Rolling Stock in Great Britain (gaelan.me/br-stock/)
~The Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com/) - easily the best rail travel resource out there.
~Geoff Marshall (youtube.com/@geofftech2) - likes trains. Mostly harmless.
~Jago Hazzard (youtube.com/@jagohazzard) - London train history. Ditto.

...and some cool 'open data' stuff:
~Realtimetrains (realtimetrains.co.uk/) - live train timetables: ideal for keeping on top of ETAs and platforms.
~Openrailwaymap (openrailwaymap.org/) - not quite 'Google Maps for railway infrastructure', but close.
~TIGER (https://tiger.worldline.global/home/) - live departure boards.
~Traksy (traksy.uk/live/) - live signalling information.
~London Underground Live (www.londonunderground.live/) - a real-time, geographically-accurate Tube map.

What's happening?
~The railway is being put into public ownership: gov.uk/guidance/great-british-railways/
~Phase One of High Speed 2 (Birmingham-London): hs2.org.uk/
~The Transpennine Route Upgrade - upgrading & electrifying the Liverpool-York mainline: thetrupgrade.co.uk/
~The Midland Main Line electrification (no website...)
~The East Coast Digital Programme: nextgenerationrailway.co.uk/

Airport people movers: soul, or soulless?

"Micromobility" is the biggest scam foisted on modern transportation. No developed society does this, only 3rd world shitholes like Southeast Asia

>be bastard son of Evergreen shipping magnate
>goes public after many years, legitimized as offspring and hired to work for your father's side business EVA Airways (BR)
>start off as mechanic, train and work as pilot, then eventually you run the entire airlines yourself
>old man dies, gives everything in his name to you in his will (much to the chagrin of your siblings)
>together as majority shareholders, they fire you and you're blacklisted from the family business
>sell your own minority shares and go and start your own airline with investors
>fly every new plane that gets delivered yourself because you like it and can

How based can one man be?

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/starlux-airlines-taiwan/index.html

Is steel real?

Is the vibration dampening qualities of a steel bike frame just a meme?

I am currently using a xiaomi smart band 9 to track my rides (so thats GPS from phone + HR from band), I start and end the ride from the band and the app automatically transfers the route, speed and heart rate to strava
I am wondering if I should upgrade to a bike computer cus I am not worried about how much calories I burn nowadays, as I got the idea of it. I just want to know how far I went and how long it took me, and to keep track of cadence so I learn to ride optimally
I have been looking at XOSS G2+ (pic related) with 2 sensors - one for cadence on crank and other on rear hub for speed (rotation)
my questions about bike computers in general are:
>do the bike computer accessories (cadence, speed, HR) connect to it, or to the phone
>does only the bike computer connect to your phone and stay connected constantly, or only to transfer data to strava or an app once the ride finishes?
>can I just get on my bike and ride, and the bike computer will then automatically upload my ride to strava once I am done?
>can I still use my xiaomi band 9 to measure my HR? will I be able to see my HR on the screen? or the bike computer only connects to HR sensors and not other "smart" devices
>should I get a bike computer with an actual screen to show maps/route?
>should I even get a bike computer to begin with, I am riding actual gravel and trails, basically exploring my region on weekends and driving 2-3 times to work a week, will the sensors and shit survive the rough terrain?
>will my mechanical watch (8 year old skx007) get fucked by the vibrations from the single/double track?
Thanks

These guys passed you on the last big hill before the cafe. Didn't even take pulls.

What do you tell these Freds to not seem mad?

This stuff is ancient but I hope that it wasn't posted here before:

The construction of the Japanese Shinkanzen high-speed rails, form 1964.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYjFOYLAtoE


Both the footage and the tempo if that of the '60s, so do NOT expect some twitch footage and on point editing.
But, I think you all would appreciate it, or - at least - should see this!

ps: use auto-subtitles. While at some point it it definitely an 'eh', it is better than nothing.

If I passed you, don't take it personally. It's because you're slow, weak, and have no stamina. No, don't look at my bike. I could smoke you any day, even you were riding a Colnago Gioello, and I could do it on a $100 BSO from Walmart. Little man, learn to take defeat gracefully. I won, fair and square.

If you passed me, chill out dude, you're such an insecure tryhard. You wasted all that money to win a race that only exists in your head. Sure I could have been a pro, still could if I'm being honest, but that kind of thing doesn't interest me, I have nothing to prove to myself. So why should I try to prove anything to others, let alone you? Stop and smell the roses, that's my philosophy.

The third anniversary of the deadliest railway crash in Greek history is in a few days so I figured I'd make this thread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempi_train_crash
30 years ago, dozens of trains daily serviced many greek cities, today, only one line is operational, linking the two biggest cities with just two trains a day. This is a combination of Greece having a very car-centric culture, the population concentrating in these two cities to the point where the countryside is all but abandoned, and powerful inter-city bus companies lobbying against trains.
Infrastructure is severely outdated, since funds for upgrades are embezzled between officials and the private company owning the railway since the 2017 so even if there was demand, the system just couldn't take it and a lot of the disused lines would have to be essentially rebuilt. Do you think there's any way rail in Greece can be salvaged?