Thermite Be Giants @ThermiteBeGiants@aus.social

“Are Trackless Trams The Solution To Our Problems?”

See, if I wait long enough someone basically writes the same blogpost as I would’ve (except I would’ve made mention of some more of the technical problems, but regardless...)
https://the-iron-road.blogspot.com/2021/01/are-trackless-trams-solution-to-our.html

“80% of [Western Sydney’s] surface area is sealed with roads, pavements, car parks buildings and other kinds of construction that trap heat. We need to get that down to 25%” | Heatwaves may mean Sydney is too hot for people to live in 'within decades’
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-01-24/heatwaves-sydney-uninhabitable-climate-change-urban-planning/12993580

China Railways yesterday officially opened the 1,198 km Beijing-Harbin high speed railway, which will cut down rail travel times between the two cities to approximately 5 hours. The line has an operating speed of 350kph and has trains that can run in temperatures as low as -40°C which are typical for the region
http://www.ecns.cn/m/news/society/2021-01-22/detail-ihafywhr7619228.shtml

TikTok Sea Shanties are out, railroad Gandy Dancer songs are in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIMBOEWOTMA

Hold onto your hats, it’s TGV THURSDAY:

https://youtu.be/l6umPyHxQio

Get onboard, it’s Trolley Tuesday:
https://youtu.be/lUtuDMHVfgs

Why yes, “corporate railroad music videos that are remixed with clips of bad things happening to their trains” is a genre of video that I didn’t know I enjoyed until today:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nGqegkUa8cY

“I’m telling y’all, it’s cabo-tage”
[Beastie Boys riff]

(Which is to say the plan sucks ass and destroys domestic jobs and conditions so that Maersk & Friends can make a quick buck)

Very concerning news from Canberra: Transport department officials have selectively leaked a plan to effectively totally deregulate Australian coastal shipping until it is functionally indistinguishable from international shipping, which would destroy our domestic maritime sector and also present a massive threat to the federally-funded Inland Rail project as well as the existing East-West rail corridor.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7071725/whats-the-point-of-inland-rail-if-theres-no-freight-on-the-trains/

On 1 January 1990, during a dispute to prevent the abolition of conductors, Melbourne tram workers occupied their depots, declared the tram service under workers' control, and when management threatened to shut off power, drove 250 trams into the CBD and dumped them there. The spectacle of a massive “tram-jam” was memorable but the story of how anarchist workers - with the support of tram passengers - occupied the depots is oft-forgotten: https://libcom.org/library/melbourne-tram-dispute-lockout

Trackless trams for Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 gets a red light from Transport for NSW: would require special roadworks along route, regulatory issues with running long articulated vehicles on Sydney’s streets and only one supplier (CRRC) forgoes using a competitive tendering process.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/longer-commute-inconvenient-not-competitive-internal-report-raises-trackless-tram-concerns-20201224-p56pzw.html