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Iran's railway system fell prey to a cyberattack this weekend
Cyberattacks disrupted Iran's train system and website on the weekend, causing some chaos for travellers.
'World's first' solar-powered rail line opens in the UK
Some trains in the UK are now running on a rail line powered entirely by a solar farm in what's said to be a world first. Around 100 panels are keeping the signaling and lights up and running on the track near Aldershot in Hampshire, and the project could be a precursor to solar-powered trains on the nation's network.
California backs down on high-speed LA-to-SF rail plan
There were concerns about the logistics of California's planned high-speed rail system even as construction began, and those practical realities are finally hitting home. Governor Gavin Newsom said he plans to scale back the rail system, building just the Central Valley segment rather than the full San-Francisco-to-LA route. It would "cost too much" and "take too long" to complete the original railway, he said.
A brief history of when trains ran on air
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was and is one of the most celebrated engineers ever to have lived. There's a London university named after him, statues commemorating him across the UK, and many of the tunnels and bridges he built are still in use today. He designed London's Paddington station, built the first transatlantic steamship powered by propellers, and was chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, which connected the capital to distant parts of England and Wales. His legacy isn't just one of achievements, though. He is also renowned for his involvement in one failed project in particular: Brunel's atmospheric railway (or "caper," as it's sometimes called). Cars on the line -- officially, the South Devon Railway -- had no on-board engines, as they were driven by air pressure alone. But the design of the system was ultimately flawed. Within a year of service starting, atmospheric propulsion on the South Devon Railway was quickly abandoned.
Japan's next-gen bullet train is sleeker and tech-friendly
Japan is still as fond of bullet trains as it ever was, and that's reflected in its latest and greatest model. Central Japan Railway has unveiled a prototype of the N700S, a 'Supreme' bullet train that's designed to be kinder to both the environment and its passengers. It's 20 percent lighter, consumes 7 percent less energy and has a boxier nose that promises to cut back on the sonic boom-like effect when the train zips through tunnels at up to 186MPH. Travelers, meanwhile, get power outlets at every seat (not just the windows like before), more comfortable seats and overhead racks that light up at each station to remind you to check for luggage.
Swiss rail stations will sell bitcoins at ticket machines
Switzerland is stepping up its bitcoin fascination in a big way. Railway operator SBB (with the help of SweePay) is launching a 2-year trial for a service that lets you exchange Swiss francs for bitcoin at any of the company's ticket machines in the country. Scan a QR code with your phone and you can get between 20 to 500 francs ($20 to $505) of digital currency at any time. If you want to go shopping without using cards or physical cash, you can do it right after you leave the train station.
Hydrogen fuel cell train offers pollution-free rail trips
Hydrogen fuel cells aren't gaining a huge amount of traction in cars, where there's a steady move toward electric. But what about regional railways, where long ranges and a lack of powered rails makes electric trains impractical? Alstom thinks that makes plenty of sense -- the French firm has introduced one of the first hydrogen fuel cell trains, the Coradia iLint. The 300-passenger locomotive can travel up to 497 miles at a reasonably brisk 87 miles per hour, all the while spewing nothing more than water. Hydrogen gives it the freedom to run on non-electrified rails, and it's considerably quieter than diesels -- helped in part by batteries that store unused energy.
Most US rail operators won't meet deadline for train safety controls
According to a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, as many as 70 percent of rail operators won't meet the end of the year deadline for safety controls. Operators are legally required to install positive train control (PTC) systems that slow trains traveling too fast (based on location) by the end of the year. The GAO says that only five rail companies will meet the December 31st deadline to have the safety tech in place. An automatic train control (ATC) system was only installed in one direction on the section of track where an Amtrak train derailed near Philadelphia earlier this year. As you might expect, the safety feature may have prevented that accident entirely by automatically adjusting the train's speed for that portion of the route. [Image credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Supersonic air keeps train tracks clear when weather sucks
Unlike forest fires, you personally can't do much to stop trainwrecks. With that in mind, the folks over at General Electric took a break from tracking your brain on BBQ and devised a way to keep one of the oldest forms of powered-transport on track in adverse weather conditions. You see, the Ardennes Forest in Belgium is legendary for its inhospitable conditions and to sidestep them and the mountains, trains were taking a longer, flatter and more expensive route. That wasn't too economical. So, GE implemented what it calls the Advanced Rail Cleaner for trains on the route. Essentially, the ARC is a module that sits at a precise spot ahead of the front axle and uses high-pressure air (rather than lasers) moving at supersonic speeds to clear away any moisture and debris.
California starts building its high-speed train system
At long last, California's promised high-speed train system is becoming more than just a pipe dream. The state will break ground on the first section of track in Fresno on January 6th, creating the foundation for a 220MPH rail network that will eventually extend as far as Sacramento and San Diego. It'll be a while before you can take the train to most major cities, so don't start scheduling that vacation just yet. The first leg will be limited to the Central Valley to help with both early deployment and testing, and the initial expansion will focus on connecting the two biggest travel hubs, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Dutch trains get lasers to zap track debris
You might not see leaves as hazards, but train operators would beg to differ -- foliage on the tracks not only makes it harder for trains to stop, but also messes with anti-collision signals. The greenery might not be much of a danger for much longer, however. Dutch Railways is testing a laser system that zaps leaves (and other organic material) before it reaches the wheels, keeping the tracks clean. You can already use water jets and sand gels to do this, but they have limited supplies and sometimes damage the rails. The lasers run so long as the train has power, and they actually help the metal by drying it and preventing leaves from sticking.
China claims world's longest high-speed rail line, takes travelers 1,428 miles in a workday
China has a thing for pushing the limits of trains. As of today, that includes distance: the country claims to have the world's longest high-speed rail line. Paying ¥865 ($139) will take you 1,428 miles from Beijing in the north to as far as Guangzhou in the south. The 8-hour, 186MPH trip is technically slower than flying, but it's cheaper and potentially less stressful than the often protracted airport boarding process. It's certainly far more viable than the 20-hour rail trip it's replacing, which could lead to some locals choosing a ground route that wasn't even a realistic option until now. [Image credit: Xinhuanet]
Indian Railways launches RailRadar, lets you track trains via Google Maps
Indian Railways has just made it a little easier for rail travelers with a new web app called RailRadar, which uses Google Maps to track trains on a real-time basis. This is certainly welcome on one of the largest rail networks in the world -- it operates more than 10,000 trains everyday -- though the service is only available on 6,500 trains for now. To find out where your train is, simply search for its name or number and RailRadar will spot it for you. You can also find trains by entering the name of the station. Blue highlights indicate trains that are on time while red means it's behind schedule. If you click on a train, it'll show its entire route from start to finish. The logical next step would be for this to be on smartphones like how it is in Japan, though we're not sure if that's in the cards just yet. [Thanks, dil]
Hacker builds allegedly pointless data network out of Lego train set
How can we appreciate bullet-quick SSDs and fiber networks without pausing -- at the year's end -- to appreciate where it all came from? We should think back to before the birth of modern computing, even before the telegraph, to a time when bits of data were forced to travel everywhere by train. A hacker named Maximilien has now recreated that locomotive golden era using Lego, Arduino and Linux, and what his system lacks in bandwidth it more than makes up for in historical relevance. A USB flash key is borne by miniature railway carriage from station to station, stopping at each one to unload or pickup information and thus creating its own barebones networking protocol. Click the source link to appreciate the full museum piece.
Google's Street View takes to the rails in Switzerland
Google's Street View has made its way around the world and gone off the beaten path in a few places, but until now it hasn't hitched a ride to capture some scenery by rail. That picturesque view above comes from a section of the Albula / Bernina railway in Switzerland -- a UNESCO World Heritage site -- all 122 kilometers of which were recently mapped out and photographed by Google using its usual Street View camera gear. Unfortunately, while that part of the process is done, the results haven't yet made their way onto the internet -- you can apparently look for that to hit Google Maps in the coming months. In the meantime, you can check out the source link below for some more shots of the capturing in progress. [Thanks, Hanspeter]
Europe's first solar powered train tunnel goes live on Belgian high-speed line (video)
The train ride from Paris to Amsterdam may not be the most scenic of European railway routes, but it's the only one capable of harnessing the awesome power of the Sun -- for two miles, at least. Yesterday, engineers in Belgium officially switched on Europe's first solar-powered train tunnel, spanning a 2.1-mile stretch of the rail line connecting the City of Lights to Mokum. The installation's 16,000 solar panels will be used to provide 50 percent of the energy needed to power nearby Antwerp Central Station and to provide extra juice for both high-speed and traditional trains. Originally developed to help protect travelers from falling trees in an ancient forest, the project is expected to produce up to 3.3MWh 3,300 megawatts hours per year, while decreasing annual CO2 emissions by about 2,400 tons. Speed past the break for some aerial footage of the artery, along with a brief PR from Enfinity -- the Belgian renewable energy company that helped bring it to life. Update: According to the AFP, the tunnel will produce 3,300 megawatts hours per year.
World's longest railway tunnel sees completion, should be zipping beneath the Alps in 2017
While a few nations in Asia battle it out for the world's fastest maglev train, some cool cats in Switzerland are cutting up the Alps in order to make North America's railway system look even more inadequate. According to AlpTransit, the longest railway tunnel in the world has just been completed, with the final drilling of the Gotthard wrapping up today. Miners drilled 30km from the north and 27km from the south, with the breakthrough point being just over 6km south of Sedrum. Granted, these miners aren't getting nearly the attention of a crew in Chile, but transport officials in Europe are still pretty stoked about this here accomplishment. In fact, it's also being described as the most deeply set rail tunnel in the world (there's a rock overburden of up to 2500 meters), with the Gotthard base tunnel aiming to provide a level track through the Alps that should become operational by 2017. When it's humming along, it'll shorten the Zurich-Milan journey time from 3 hours 40 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes, not to mention make every rider feel as if they've truly traversed the ultimate Bat Cave. And that, friends, is worth the seven year wait. [Thanks, Fabrice]
Overheating iPod delays rush-hour train in Tokyo
Poor Apple. The company just can't catch a break these days. On Wednesday, Apple Japan began offering customers iPod nano replacements, giving in to local government demands to better address an overheating battery issue affecting Apple's first generation iPod nano players. Then Friday morning (making the English-language press only now) a busy rush-hour commuter train was stopped in Tokyo to investigate a smell. According to a spokesman, "When a member of staff went to investigate inside the train, a passenger came over showing him that the iPod she was listening to had burst apart." No injuries were reported and the exact iPod model is still unknown. However, we can be certain that the eight minute delay on Japan's notoriously timely railway system caused many commuters to question their ability to go on. [Image courtesy of Maruhachi-kotsu]
New Mexico Rail Runner train gets lit with WiMAX, sets a good example
Oh sure, we've seen the occasional big city train get their own WiFi / WiMAX installation, but when a state like New Mexico steps up and does it, we take notice. The New Mexico Rail Runner, which travels some 95 miles between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, is now lit with WiMAX along the entire route, and the service is being provided gratis for all who ride. Better still, the New Mexico Mid-Region Council of Governments has no intentions of ever charging patrons in order to recoup the $2.4 million investment. We're told that users can expect download rates of up to 6Mbps and upload speeds nearing 4Mbps, and we're desperately hopeful that other states will take notice and attempt to get with the program. America's already way behind most every European nation when it comes to rail travel, but toss a "free WiMAX!" sign on the door and you just might coax these car-lovin' Yanks into going mass transit. [Thanks, Ben]
The RailPod is one track short of a train car, the future of transportation?
Think the PRT podcar is the pod that will re-invent transportation? Prepare to get those opinions railed, as the RailPod is on its way to get you where you're going -- and to put all those striking cabbies out of work. The idea is that unused (or underused) railway lines can be turned into bi-directional traffic routes, with the RailPod using gyros to balance precariously on a single strip of iron, taking up only half the width of the line. Two passengers can ride facing away from each other on this car of the future (presumably to discourage any hanky-panky of the future), whisked away after swiping a credit card and punching in a destination. The Boston-based startup is still in the "please oh please give us money" phase, but hope to have a working prototype ready by the end of the year. Until then you'll have to simply enjoy the video after the break, which you might be surprised to learn was created entirely using computer graphics.[Via Mass High Tech]
