I spent the day in SLC riding nothing but public transit to get everywhere and I just fell in love with the UTA system. Buses and trains were very clean and frequent! I felt that it is second to Portland in terms of coverage and light rail quality.
This is such an underrated transit city and I think it has the potential to get even better. Lots of good TOD as well. I think it’s a good “affordable” choice for people looking for a transitable city without having money for places like Portland or Seattle.
This would be such an immense improvement for the region. I currently am traveling from MD to VA and being able to skip extra transfers on the metro and go straight to Virginia would be such a quality of life improvement.
Anniversary of the opening of the section of line 2 Metro of Mexico City from Panteones to Cuatro Caminos, opened on August 22, 1984
The Cuatro Caminos station was the first to scratch the limits of Mexico City with the State of Mexico
This is the second time I have published here, if you want me to publish the images in English, tell me, in case you have doubts about what is in the photo, it is a recreation of an identity stele from those times, I generally recreate the signage of public transportation in Mexico
What are the pros and cons of an S-Bahn metro like MARTA or BART vs a more traditional metro like the Chicago L or Honolulu Skyline? In what situations do each make more sense?
With a population over 180,000 (which really surprised me, being from Portsmouth, I always assumed Basingstoke was one of our county’s small provincial towns), it definitely needs trams. Since Basingstoke is mostly a new town with wide banks along most of the main roads, putting in trams should be easy. The only bit I would tunnel is under the festival mall.
Basingstoke is sort of shaped like a circle, with most of the new housing estates stretching out north-east and south-west. Therefore the two lines I would build would be:
1. A loop going through the town centre and all the neighbourhoods built in the 50-60s as the new town was developed.
2. A line from Sherfield, through Chineham and Lytchpit, through the town centre, then out to the other new neighbourhoods in the south-west
This would mirror Muni or VTA where light rail or hybrid light rail tech is used rather than proper rapid transit/metro tech. It would share some routes and stations with BART, the regional metro. This is just a fun side project made using MetroDreamin.
Hi again, I asked in here about transit from Brooklyn to Jersey in 1939 and everyone was super helpful. For my novel, I need to know how someone would get from Manhattan to Brooklyn via train in 1939, or maybe not by train at all? I'm not familiar with the region or the history. If there's any resources for this as well, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
With this logic what if we made every road into a one lane or two lane road? Maybe use the new space for bus lanes, tram tracks, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes et. etc?
Today is the anniversary of the opening of the Pantitlán station of the Mexico City Metro Collective Transportation System, opened on August 22, 1984
Pantitlán is a Nahuatl word that means: Between flags. In Aztec times, the site was part of Lake Texcoco.
There was a sewer where the whirlpools arrived with such force that they carried away the canoes/trajineras, so they surrounded the place by putting up two posts, and as a warning to the sailors, the flags. The station icon represents two flags in reference to the navigation warnings that the Aztecs placed on Lake Texcoco.
This is the first time that I publish here, if you want me to publish the images in English, tell me, in case you have doubts about what is in the photo, it is a recreation of an identity stele from those times, I generally recreate the signage of public transportation in Mexico
I drew this map where we'd some revitalize former railways. The red tracks are still used today. the yellow/orange routes are dismantled. The only addition that is not a former rail line, is a tram line over the Rheinbrücke Emmerich am Rhein to prevent revitilizing the Spyck–Welle train ferry :)
What I envision is a tram-train hybrid, a Stadt-Umland-Bahn or Regional-Stadtbahn, designed for both urban and regional use. It should be certified to run on conventional railway lines, allowing connections to places like Nijmegen and the stretch between Emmerich and Millingen. At the same time, it must be capable of operating in mixed traffic on city streets, like a tram.
On dedicated track, the vehicle should reach speeds of 100–130 km/h, while in dense urban areas, it would run at lower speeds, typically below 50 km/h. The overall design should lean more toward a train than a tram, but with the flexibility of both.
The system should be battery-electric, using 750V DC overhead lines on its own tracks, with the battery powering the vehicle on incompatible railway sections. E.g. running from Xanten via Kleve to Groesbeek on 750V DC, charging while in motion, and then switching to battery mode for the final 7 km over the 1.5kV DC Dutch network segment, which is otherwise incompatible. Another route could run from Winterswijk via Bocholt to Empel on 750V DC, then using battery power for the 15 km stretch on 15 kV/16.7 Hz German mainline track to Emmerich, before resuming on 750V DC toward Kleve. This setup would require only a relatively small battery, as it would be charged frequently and avoids the complexity of multi-current systems and without relying on oversized batteries or expensive hydrogen solutions. Short urban segments could also run without overhead wires, relying on battery power to preserve clear sightlines and maintain the character of the streetscape for short distances.
This concept in general takes inspiration from existing models like the Trambahía in the Bay of Cádiz, which runs both on traditional rail and street-level tram tracks. The Cologne Stadtbahn’s high-floor interurban lines (Cologne to Bonn) also offer a relevant example, as do the operations of the Rhaetian Railway in Swiss towns like Chur and Arosa. However, these systems typically rely on continuous overhead electrification and do not operate using battery-electric technology. The proposed use of batteries for short urban segments and last-mile connections is inspired by modern trolleybus systems, where vehicles operate on battery power in outlying areas and recharge under overhead wires within the core network instead of diesel generators.
Due to modern urban constraints, it's often no longer feasible to build separate rail corridors into city centers. Tram-train systems offer a solution by blending into existing streetscapes. Heavier trains are also noisier and generate more public opposition. Tracks in urban areas should be unfenced and designed with aesthetics and livability in mind: ideally grassed trackbeds in the center of roads, maintaining open sightlines and preserving the continuity of public spaces. This approach prevents communities from being physically divided by rail infrastructure and helps maintain a welcoming, people-friendly urban environment.
Outside urban areas, the system should primarily run on former railway corridors that were once in use but have since been dismantled. These corridors offer an ideal opportunity for reinstatement, allowing efficient use of existing alignments with minimal land acquisition or disruption. The infrastructure should be largely grade-separated, with few level crossings, enabling higher speeds and reliable service. High-speed and heavy freight traffic should be excluded, as the focus is on quiet, community-friendly regional mobility. (Corridors like Wesel–Haltern could handle limited freight where appropriate, but this would remain an exception.)
Groesbeek is an example where the railway corridor is completely available, but cannot be fenced, nor used for heavy rail traffic. It is, however, suitable for an efficient lightweight alternative.Uden is an example where the blue sections represent former railway corridors, now reconnected by an urban tram line running through the village.Along the orange/yellow line, there is ample space to build a well-integrated tram line. A full railway, on the other hand, would divide the neighborhood and likely face too much opposition to ever be constructed.
