After a year of looking into climate resilience on the electrified UK rail network – what did I learn & what is the Gov doing about it? As I pack up for riding the rails in Europe for the summer – here is my synopsis. The full report is here (1/36): https://t.co/adXmK7YYjYissuu.com/furrerfrey-gb/…
Firstly, before we get into Climate Resilience, remember the Sparks Effect - the boost railways traditionally get when it's electrified. The UK's Climate Change Committee has made it clear that we need modal shift to decarbonise. Thus we need reliable, affordable railways (2/36)

After 9 months of working on an Electric Road System (ERS) project I’ve a few lessons. 1 of 3 UK DfT feasibility studies. Aim is to range extend battery lorries, essentially lorries with pantographs running under DC overhead line. (1/8) 1) ERS is a nice engineering issue to tackle. Integrating onto a public highway is complex & we all like working on interesting projects. However, doesn’t tackle modal shift or how it fits into wider future transport. It solves an engineering issue, not a societal issue (2/5)

𝗔𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗫𝗢𝗡: So much talk, disagreement & argument on twitter about aesthetic electrification & overhead line on railways – I thought I would outline an alternative way of thinking -in one mega thread (1/45) What we mean by aesthetics is the first bone of contention. On Twitter I have seen someone bemoan UK electrification design & herald a swiss photo – without realising it is the same design. Do you really not like the aesthetics or do you prefer the Alps to Swindon (2/45)?

Lot of discussion last night on the ‘Digital Railway’, but what might mean beyond signalling? Two recent events made me feel we're still in the 19th Century. Even decent records management might take us to the turn of the 21st Century, when it comes to a Digital Railway. (1/9) Event 1: Replacing underbridge arms at Bridge 172 near Pitsea. Sounds simple a like-for-like replacement. But, you need to know the ‘like’, to replace it with ‘like’. Everyone knows what it is, but records don’t show the actual equipment: bolt sizes, spacings, plate sizes (2/9)