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Trains
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trains
Transportation Bill Gives $45 Million To Maglev Project, Sets It Up For Fail
A new transportation bill signed by Bush on Friday would free up $45 million to build the U.S.'s first maglev train. The train will travel between Disneyland and Las Vegas at up to 300 mph and is meant to help ease traffic on the 250+ mile ride on Interstate 15. While I'm all for high-speed trains and efficient public transportation, isn't the Bush administration forgetting something? More »
trains
World's First High-Def Train Simulator Makes Train Operating Uber-Realistic
Train operators-in-training will no longer have to deal with plain, unrealistic, standard-definition simulations thanks to a new system that uses full HD video. Jointly developed by Fujitsu and video game maker Ongakukan, the world's most advanced train simulator uses variable-speed playback technology and HD video that was shot on actual train lines. More »
design
Comfy IKEA Train Makes Me Want to Move to the Subway
IKEA has outfitted a train in Kobe with sofas and curtains—probably with names like Oompa-loompa, Svenssonjohansensson, Frida, and Bucarest. Unfortunately, the makeover is temporary, to mark the opening of a new shop in the city. Good, because otherwise I would move to live in there. I will miss my stair bookcase, yes, but I would make as many one-serving friends per hour as the number of pictures in the gallery after the jump.
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fast train
I Am Le Fast: France's AGV Super Train Aims to Go One Better than TGV
French engineering firm Alstom unveiled its successor the the TGV today, the AGV. Standing for Automotrice Grande Vitesse, the train, which boasts an individual engine beneath each carriage, can travel at speeds of up to 223mph, or 360kph. Up to 700 passengers can be transported at a time, and less fuel is used, as the AGV is lighter than its elder sister and consumes up to 30 per cent less energy. More info below the gallery.More »
news
IR Hacks: Some Perspective
While much of the internet may be up in arms over Richard Blakeley's recent IR-induced video stunt, a 14-year-old boy from Poland allegedly took an IR hack to more tragic proportions this week, and has been accused of hacking a standard TV remote to override track switching at rail junctions in the city of Lodz. Four trams were derailed and (luckily) only 12 people were injured with none killed. The youth in question was described by teachers as an "electronics buff and exemplary student," according to The Register.
The lesson? From here on out, Blakeley takes a cab. And he stays the fuck away from our train set. [theregister via boingboing] [image]
trains
The Caltrain board is going to approve a multi-million-dollar project, finished by the end of 2008, that adds GPS and web-based tracking functionality for their trains. Caltrain, the SF Bay Area's commuter train, will then use the "Real Time Train Predictive Arrival GPS System" in nine train stops, allowing users to monitor the train's location/arrival via the website 511.org, and time their jog down to the train accordingly. [MercuryNews]
Caltrain GPS Project Tracks, Locates Late Trains
The Caltrain board is going to approve a multi-million-dollar project, finished by the end of 2008, that adds GPS and web-based tracking functionality for their trains. Caltrain, the SF Bay Area's commuter train, will then use the "Real Time Train Predictive Arrival GPS System" in nine train stops, allowing users to monitor the train's location/arrival via the website 511.org, and time their jog down to the train accordingly. [MercuryNews]
gadgets
France Breaks Train Speed Record; Arnie Taunts Californians
A souped-up TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) broke the train speed record today, speeding along at a whopping 357.2mph. Loaded up with two supercharged locomotives and oversized wheels, it broke the record on a specially prepared track east of Paris. More »
gadgets
Breaking News: Robots Break New York Transit Strike
Just kidding. But we have a fairly large Gizmodo brain trust in our commentors and readers. This is what I want to know: when will a large city like New York have a completely automated train system? Clearly, the current system—in New York, that is—could not support a 20th—let alone a 21st—century automated infrastructure. But what would need to happen to make these pension talks kind of moot? More »
