Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
JR Urbane Network Profile picture
JR Urbane Network
@JRUrbaneNetwork
Trains are like dragons: massive, majestic, mystical and capable of quickly taking you on an exotic adventure.
4 subscribers
Nov 14 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Last month the Environmental Impact Report for Beijing Subway Line 19 Phase 2 N Extension was released. The extension is mostly underground, 24.2km long, serves 7 stations with 2 branches with a reservations for a 3rd. Line 19 is an express line supporting 120kph operations.... Image No much change in the design of the project since it's approval as part of Beijing Subway's Phase 3 expansion noted in repost. However...
Image
Nov 10 • 14 tweets • 7 min read
It started out 2 Fridays ago as a meme,
last Friday it became a movement (now with detractors). Apparently around 600,000-400,000 people from all over China on Friday and Saturday night (Oct 8 and 9) came to Zhengzhou and sharebiked from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng to... (a thread) ...play. It all started when 4 female college students posted on social media about biking via China's vast sharebike fleet to from Zhengzhou, a city of over 10 million ppl, to Kaifeng, a historic city of 1.75 million ppl 50km away that I recommend going:
Nov 9 • 34 tweets • 21 min read
Last week I visited the "Station Rail Voyage" a popup museum using the old Hung Hom platforms to exhibit old Hong Kong railway rolling stock for a few months. A picture thread of my experience. Image
Image
Image
Image The museum requires reservations in advance so please take note and plan accordingly. Image
Nov 6 • 19 tweets • 9 min read
There's alot going on across the Pacific, over here on this side, Tokyo Metro has officially started construction on extensions to the Yurakucho and Namboku lines today. Breaking Tokyo Metro's soft moratorium on new metro projects after the completion of the Fukutoshin Line. A 🧵 Image The two extensions will add ~8km of new metro to the network and serve the Shinagawa and Koto areas. Again, this will be the 1st time in over 15 years Tokyo Metro is building new metro. The quite successful IPO of Tokyo Metro partly allowed this to happen.
Image
Nov 6 • 26 tweets • 10 min read
While I was in Japan, during Railway Day a "railway festival" was held at Odaiba organized by JR Group, private railways and the MILT. A thread of my experience attending. Basically the festival is a bunch of tents in a park with railway operators and railway adjacent entities across Japan to sell official merchandise, "original goods", have talks, do some advertising and generally have a grand olde time.
Oct 31 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
More importantly, the train consists for Line 3 follows the new Beijing Subway operation planning doctrine being rolled out. New BJ Subway lines will have "half" trainsets which in an ultimate configuration a pair will run linked together to form a full train. Why? A thread. In the reposted example, Line 3 trainsets are 4 cars long but will run in a 4+4 config to make use of the stations that support 8 car trains. The new logic is that many new Beijing Subway lines use Traffic Control Technology (TCT) Co. built signal systems which are pushing... Image
Oct 30 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
So apparently last week it was revealed that Taoyuan Metro, who wanted to buy new trains to supplement their existing fleet, can't procure new trains. The Invensys DTG-R signal system (which is also used on the Victoria Line) is no longer supported.... Image ...Invensys was acquired by Siemens, and Siemens told Taoyuan Metro the installed version of the DTG-R signal system on the original section of the Airport MRT is no longer supported and Siemens can't make trains...
Oct 28 • 22 tweets • 9 min read
When I was in Japan, I visited the Yamanashi Prefectural Maglev Exhibition, on a 500kph test day. The test track is first section of Japan's first maglev, the Chuo Shinkansen. A Thread with lots of videos of a Maglev blasting by. Getting there is a bit rough. There is an infrequent bus but I opted to take a JR-E limited express train to Otsuki and transfer to a local Fuji Railway train and walk thru Inaka for 30 mins. Image
Oct 27 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Yesterday major changes were made to Shenzhen Metro Line 3. A Thread.
1st Change: New trains ordered to supplement the fleet for the Line 3 Phase 4 extension and increase overall line frequency have started running.
Image
Image
Image 2nd Change: New Line 3 maps showing the upcoming Line 3 Phase 4 extension implemented at all stations. Image
Oct 25 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
The problem with the TRA Taipei undergrounding project is that they blew a huge amount of money to place a surface railway underground and reuse the extra space to expand a stroad to a... extra massive stroad. Lil Thread. Taiwan in the 80s did start putting TRA tracks underground in a bid to reduce inconvenience to surface traffic. The video above is in Ximen which looked like this when the TRA mainline ran on the surface beside Zhonghua Road in the 70s. Pic by 台北市政府觀光傳播局/台北畫刊 Image
Oct 13 • 21 tweets • 8 min read
So today, after running some shopping errands I slowly made my way to try and catch a JR Chuo Rapid train equipped with green cars which debut today. Lo and behold I got one after waiting 15 mins. Small Thread of my debut bi-level Japanese green car experience. The Chuo Rapid is one of the last "mid-distance" services on the JR-E Kanto network to not have green car service (tho the Narita Line Rapid also does not) most other Mid-distance services like the Ueno-Tokyo services which have two bi level premium seat "green cars".
Oct 11 • 11 tweets • 6 min read
🧵on heading back into Tokyo, I see the transition from Inaka to the world's largest city. I got driven to Ohara to enter the Tokyo Commuter Fare Zone. My first train is a Sotobō Line 2 car E131 series that comes hourly. (Pic of 2 car E131 at Awa-Kamogawa where I ate breakfast) Image The line is mostly single track but is electrified. The two car E131 trains use "wanman" operation with one driver and have semi automatic doors that passengers have to push buttons to open and close. There is a bank of screens above the driver seat to monitor the doors.
Sep 29 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Last Friday, I finally had time see the new pedestrian scramble crossing at Granville and Carnarvon Roads installed Aug 2nd. This is the 2nd true pedestrian scramble crossing installed in Hong Kong. The first one I went to months ago in a thread below:
This one had similar issues to the pedestrian scramble crossing in Shatin, ped unfriendly high cycle lengths. I timed 130 sec cycles with a ~32 sec ped scramble phase. The difference is there is minimal bus traffic. This cycle design is too car centric.
Sep 28 • 38 tweets • 11 min read
@yeungj1602 It's alright. Tho it's too "railfany" in its critic that falls into a lot of tropes that plague pop-urbanist circles. For example: @yeungj1602 NO. This is way too rail brained (in a bad way), I would be more forgiving if they instead noted that a good transport city should have multiple integrated modes but no at the get-go this is a poor train of thought (pun intended). Image
Sep 25 • 11 tweets • 6 min read
PSA: Guangzhou Metro Line 21 will be cut back one station to Tianhe Park starting October 2nd, 2024 for works to prepare for transferring over the Tianhe Park to Yuancun section to Line 11. As described in the repost below. A supplementary🧵...



Image
Image
Image .... Guangzhou Line 21 at Tianhe Park will have adjustments being made to the platforms. Starting Oct 2, Line 21 trains will shift from the outer platforms to their inner final platforms.
Image
Sep 18 • 14 tweets • 6 min read
Friend from Germany came to visit me in HK. He read news on how Shenzhen turned from a village to a global tech hub. I told him about Huaqiangbei electronics market, his eyes lit up "Can they upgrade my ipad with more storage?" "Of course." I said, a🧵of our adventures last week. For those unfamiliar with Huaqiangbei it is the world's largest electronics market, a hub for wholesale trading and logistics for finished electronics or electronic components. An older thread of my experiences.
Sep 10 • 8 tweets • 6 min read
Today Suzhou Metro Line 8 opened. The 35km 29 station fully underground fully automated line uses 6 car type B trains. The 12 year old Suzhou Metro is now 322km long. Pics by ETGALAXY5. Below a picture🧵 of Line 8 Stations which costs 165 million INT$/km to build.


Image
Image
Image
Image Suzhou Metro Line 8 opening day pics and map posted by 地铁客流及运输研究阿牛.


Image
Image
Image
Image
Aug 28 • 28 tweets • 14 min read
A long overdue thread of my experience on the Xiamen BRT, a 67km long fully grade separated BRT that carries over 300,000 people per day and wants to be a metro. I headed out to Wenzao Station on Xiamen Metro Line 1. I was surprised that the BRT was even mentioned on the passenger info LCD and when arriving at the station maps and wayfinding have references to the BRT. This is not a common practice in E Asia.

Image
Image
Image
Aug 26 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
Last Friday, 22km of the northern section of Foshan Metro Line 3 opened. The Guangzhou-Foshan Metro system is now 747km long. As you can see in the map below by MetroMan地铁通 part of the new Line 3 was islanded. Why is there a gap? A thread.
Image
Image Line 3 started construction in 2016 but trouble was brewing in the late 2010s in the northern section where China Railways didn't know what to do with aging Foshan Railway Station. The approved plan being implemented for L3 called for a direct connection to the railway station. Image
Aug 15 • 18 tweets • 9 min read
Progress of the Shanghai Metro Line 3 and 4 split project. The 1st phase of the project is to modify the elevated Baoshan Station where Line 3 and 4 meet in the north with a new northern platform (1st pic solid red). A small thread on this small but key ongoing project.


Image
Image
Image
Image Line 3 and 4 have an interlined section on the Puxi side of the Line 4 loop, due to historical reasons, Line 3 was built from an old railway ROW and Line 4 was a later addition that opportunistically used the completed Line 3. Image
Aug 8 • 14 tweets • 6 min read
When I was taking the Shenzhen Metro at night, at Futian looking across the platform, I noticed some large boxes around the business class car of the opposing train. I stepped out to take a look and saw Shenzhen Metro is piloting delivering express parcels. A 🧵of what I saw.

Looking around the platform there are a lot of decals denoting a corridor for the freight (transported in dollies) to traverse the platform to the train from the elevator
Image
Image