|
Luton Rail Crash
Luton railway station is located in the town centre of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The station is about three minutes' walk from The Mall Shopping Centre. It is situated on the Midland Main Line and is operated by Thameslink. History Luton station was built by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its extension to St. Pancras. For some years, it was known as ''Luton Midland Road'' to distinguish it from the earlier '' Luton Bute Street'', which was built in 1858 on the GNR line from Hertford North to Leighton Buzzard. A public area, known as the ''Great Moor'', had to be built through; the remainder of the land was bought for development by John Crawley, who provided a replacement in what is known as the ''People's Park''. This proved a worthwhile investment because, as the town's staple trade in straw hats diminished as they went out of fashion, it was replaced by engineering works. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the population had nearly trebled and the station ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable and Houghton Regis, had a population of 258,018. It is the most populous town in the county, from the County Towns of Hertford, from Bedford and from London. The town is situated on the River Lea, about north-north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon outpost on the River Lea, from which Luton derives its name. Luton is recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Loitone'' and ''Lintone'' and one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire, St Mary's Church, was built in the 12th century. There are local museums which explore Luton's history in Wardown Park and Stockwood Park. Luton was, for many years, widely known for hatmaking and also had a large Vauxhall Motors factory. Car production at the plant be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Level Crossings In The United Kingdom
There are around 6,000 level crossings in the United Kingdom, of which about 1,500 are public highway crossings. This number is gradually being reduced as the risk of accidents at level crossings is considered high. The director of the UK Railway Inspectorate commented in 2004 that "the use of level crossings contributes the greatest potential for catastrophic risk on the railways." The creation of new level crossings on the national network is banned (the exception being reopening unavoidable crossings on new/reopening railway lines, and on heritage railways), with bridges and tunnels being the more favoured options. The cost of making significant reductions, other than by simply closing the crossings, is substantial; some commentators argue that the money could be better spent. Some 5,000 crossings are user-worked crossings or footpaths with very low usage. The removal of crossings can improve train performance and lower accident rates, as some crossings have low rail speed li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the morning peak. All the services are currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. The Thameslink Programme was a major £5.5billion scheme to increase capacity on the central London section by accommodating more frequent and longer trains, and providing additional routes and destinations. The new services began operating in 2018. In 2016, new Class 700 trains started operating on the route and replaced the Class 319, Class 377 and Class 387 trains which were withdrawn and transferred elsewhere. Route Much of the original route is over the Brighton Main Line (via London Bridge) and the southern part of the Midland Main Line, plus a suburban true loop (circuit) serving Sutton. A branch via the Catford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Midlands Railway
Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport announced that Arriva, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia, and incumbent Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next East Midlands franchise. Abellio was added in February 2018. FirstGroup and Trenitalia pulled out of the bidding process in April 2018 to focus on the West Coast Partnership franchise. In April 2019 the franchise was awarded to Abellio, with East Midlands Railway (EMR) to take over the franchise from East Midlands Trains (EMT) on 18 August 2019 for a period of eight years. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shere FASTticket
The Atos Worldline FASTticket system is a passenger-operated, self-service railway ticket issuing system, developed by the Guildford-based company Shere Ltd and first introduced on a trial basis in Britain in 1996, shortly after privatisation. It has been developed and upgraded consistently since then, and is now used by seven Train Operating Companies (TOCs) as their primary self-service ticket issuing system. Other TOCs have FASTticket machines at some of their stations, sometimes supplementing other systems. History and origins In the last years of British Rail, before privatisation, the main passenger-operated ticket issuing system (POTIS) on the network was the "Quickfare" B8050, developed in the late 1980s by Swiss company Ascom Autelca. These machines were geared towards high-volume, low-value transactions: they only accepted cash, offered a small and mostly unchanging range of destinations, and were a minor evolution from similar earlier machines whose computer techn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leagrave Railway Station
Leagrave railway station is located in Leagrave, a suburb in the north of Luton in Bedfordshire, England. Leagrave station is situated on the Midland Main Line 33¾ miles (54 km) north of London St Pancras International. The station is managed by Thameslink, and is served by the Thameslink route. History The station was built by the Midland Railway in 1868 on the eastern side of Leagrave Village as part of the extension to St. Pancras line. Passenger services began on 13 July 1868. The old Midland station buildings still exist, having been carefully restored in the 1980s. The station buildings underwent some further alteration when ticket barriers were installed along with some external alteration to the façades where former windows were made into door ways. The buildings are locally listed as being of significant architectural merit. Facilities There is a car park besides Leagrave Common ground just 10 minutes walking distance from Leagrave station towards Sundo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luton Airport Parkway Railway Station
Luton Airport Parkway railway station is on the Midland Main Line in England, serving south Luton and Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It is situated in Park Town, Luton, and is down the line from London St Pancras between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter station code is LTN, also the IATA code for the airport. The station is served by Thameslink operated trains on the Thameslink route and by East Midlands Railway. It is situated approximately west of the airport, to which it is linked by a chargeable shuttle bus service. History The Bedford–London section of the Midland Main Line was opened on 1 October 1868 by the Midland Railway to provide a new direct route into London St Pancras. The Midland Main Line had stations in the Luton area at , and . Luton Municipal Airport was opened on 16 July 1938 by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood. During World War Two, the airport served as an RAF base for No. 264 Squadron RAF, but the airport returned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plusbus
Plusbus is an add-on ticket, which can be purchased with National Rail train tickets in the United Kingdom. It allows unlimited travel on participating bus and tram operators' services in the whole urban area of rail-served towns and cities. History The Plusbus scheme was launched in October 2002 across an initial 35 railway stations. The scheme is administered by Journey Solutions, a not for profit partnership of bus operators Arriva, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach, the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Rail Delivery Group.Home Plusbus Plusbus won the International Road Transport Union Eurochallenge Award in 2007 for its model of private partnership providing outstanding social and customer value. Rail and bus ticketing Plusbus is available in 290 towns and cities, |
Diesel Multiple Unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also generally classed as DMUs. Diesel-powered units may be further classified by their transmission type: diesel–mechanical DMMU, diesel–hydraulic DHMU, or diesel–electric DEMU. Design The diesel engine may be located above the frame in an engine bay or under the floor. Driving controls can be at both ends, on one end, or in a separate car. Types by transmission DMUs are usually classified by the method of transmitting motive power to their wheels. Diesel–mechanical In a diesel–mechanical multiple unit (DMMU), the rotating energy of the engine is transmitted via a gearbox and driveshaft directly to the wheels of the train, like a car. The transmissions can be shifted manually by the driver, as in the great majority of first-gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car company headquartered in Chalton, England. Vauxhall became a subsidiary of Stellantis in January 2021. Vauxhall is one of the oldest established vehicle manufacturers and distribution companies in the United Kingdom. It sells passenger cars, electric and light commercial vehicles under the Vauxhall marque, and used to sell vans, buses, and trucks under the Bedford Vehicles brand. Vauxhall was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer. It was purchased by Andrew Betts Brown in 1863, who began producing travelling cranes under the company, renaming it "Vauxhall Iron Works". The company began manufacturing cars in 1903, and changed its name back around this time. It was acquired by American automaker General Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telescoping (railway)
In a railway accident, telescoping occurs when the underframe of one vehicle overrides that of another, and smashes through the second vehicle's body. The term is derived from the resulting appearance of the two vehicle bodies: the body of one vehicle may appear to be slid inside the other like the tubes of a collapsible telescope – the body sides, roof and underframe of the latter vehicle being forced apart from each other. Telescoping often results in heavy fatalities if the cars telescoped are fully occupied. The car riding on top will often be destroyed by the structure of the car below, crushing those on board (although the physics of the incident may reverse the cars' roles). The chances of telescoping can be reduced by use of anticlimbers and other structural systems which direct crash energy and debris away from the passenger and crew areas. Accidents where telescoping occurred are numerous and include: * 1864 Shohola train wreck * 1888 Mud Run disaster * 1928 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signalman (rail)
:''This article deals with rail traffic controllers in Great Britain and Ireland; for similar functions in other jurisdictions, see Train dispatcher.'' A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains. History The first signalmen, originally called Railway Policemen (leading to the nickname of 'Bobby'), were employed in the early 19th century and used flags to communicate with each other and train drivers, and hourglasses for the purpose of Time Interval Working between stations. In South Africa, a local rail signaller named Jack (baboon) achieved some fame for the unique distinction of being a chacma baboon. Additional duties It was a signalman's duty to check each train that passed their signal box, looking for the red tail lamp exhibited on the trailing vehicle, the sighting of which confirmed that the train was still complete, and thus the section was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Shere FASTticket")
