AirRail Review: Gatwick Airport Station
We used train to London Gatwick Airport, here’s the interchange as whizz speed. #PassengerExperience #London #AirRail #Airport #GatwickAirport #Station
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Liam
- Nov 8, 2018
- 1 min
AirRail Review: Manhattan to JFK Airport
We used the Subway/AirTrain link from New York City to JFK Airport. How was the interchange? #USA #PassengerExperience #AirRail #NewYork #Station #Subway
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Liam
- Apr 1, 2018
- 2 min
Sugar Mills Valley Express
Sugar Mills Valley Train When in Cuba, I made the most of the public transport, I used a Cadillac, a taxi, a mini bus and a coach. It was only in the historic city of Trinidad where I gave in and took a train. Not just any train… special train to the old sugar mills. This section of the line was severed from the main national network at some time so it seems to be run as a giant train set by state rail employees. They even let me drive! Trinidad Central Station is quite impre
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Liam
- Jan 16, 2018
- 2 min
Super Alfa Pendular
Following a previous article on transport from Lisbon Airport I left the city on board CP’s (Portugal’s national rail company) premier service, the Alfa Pendular, down to the south coast of Portugal. Lisbon Oriente Station Oriente station must have been designed for Instagram: every angle looks photogenic and – on a sunny day – the station is bright, airy and calm. We didn’t have too much trouble finding the platform but seemed to become a stand-in station assistant while we
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Liam
- Sep 2, 2017
- 3 min
Brisbane’s Central Stations
As I covered in my previous article on Brisbane’s Airtrain, the service calls at each of the city centre stations before heading south out of the city; as I was going to be in Brisbane for a few days I had the opportunity to have a look at these stations. From the outside they all appear to be operated by the Queensland’s transport authority, TransLink. What is also noteworthy about Brisbane is segregated busways through the city centre, these BRT lines act in part as a high
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Liam
- Aug 31, 2017
- 4 min
Brisbane Airtrain
Continuing my tour of Australia’s east coast, I flew up to Brisbane. Brisbane’s Domestic and International airports are served by the airtrain which is a stub from the main rail network for the city. I used the service in the off-peak when trains leave every 30 mins. Domestic Airport Landing at the Domestic Airport, it was ironic that one of the first signs I saw when I entered the common airside area was an advert for Sydney’s Airport Link. There’s no mention of the local ra
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Liam
- Aug 17, 2017
- 4 min
Getting About Sydney
This is a bonus 3rd article from Sydney to mention some of the quirks that I didn’t cover in my two other articles, on the Light Rail service and on the Airport Link. In a harbour city, it’s not unusual that there is a large water based transport system. As such, many areas of the city are served by Sydney Ferries, rather than an urban rail network: apart from the spur to Bondi Junction, Sydney Trains services are exclusively west of the central area (the CBD). I found myse
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Liam
- Aug 1, 2017
- 5 min
Sydney’s Airport Link
A Quick Intro to ensure this article makes sense: Like many Australian airports, International flights arrive into a different airport (terminal) than domestic flights. This means that international visitors proceed through a segregated arrivals process into one large terminal. Domestic passengers exit their plane straight into the common airside area mixed with departing passengers, this has an impact on what information a passenger is given in the segregated or mixed enviro
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Liam
- May 17, 2017
- 3 min
Abandoned by Sydney Light Rail
What comes to mind when you think of Sydney, Australia? Probably not the Light Rail line but there is one and I actually had a reason to use it when I was there recently. The Light Rail line doesn’t really take you to any of the sights but it does provide the only rail link to the western part of the inner city. And so it was that on a drizzly day in March we were walking around the Western Suburbs and saw on my phone that Leichhardt North station was nearby. I’d never used t
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Liam
- Jan 2, 2017
- 4 min
TransWA – Western Australia’s only InterCity
In the first and second articles on Perth’s transport network I focussed on getting around the city so it seemed the obvious choice to use the Australind train to get down to the South West. Unfortunately, due to historic line closures the train only travels as far as city of Bunbury, so I booked onto the train to skip Perth’s highways before renting a car at the end of the line. Things didn’t really work to plan as I ended up on a replacement bus, on the highway, the whole w
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Liam
- Dec 13, 2016
- 3 min
Helsinki’s Airport Train
Last month I was in Helsinki for the GARA AirRail conference – of which you can read my conference review here. Never having been to Helsinki before, I took the new Airport Ring Rail Line into the city centre for the weekend. I’ll spare you the details on the sauna and baths and just mention the train in this article. Finding the Airport Station Landing at Helsinki Airport I saw some ticket machines in the baggage hall but I didn’t see any departure information about the airp
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Liam
- Nov 25, 2016
- 2 min
What’s New in New York?
Last weekend, I was in New York City to pick up some Thanksgiving supplies, I met up with an old colleague, now at the MTA who gave me some background on some recently opened infrastructure. While the Second Avenue Subway is not yet open, I had a look at the new Hudson Yards station as well as the gateway entrance to the World Trade Center. Hudson Yards The 7 line has been extended one stop to a new station at Hudson Yards – officially 34th Street – Hudson Yards. The newest s
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Liam
- Nov 18, 2016
- 5 min
Global AirRail 2016 Conference Review
The annual Global AirRail conference took place in Helsinki last week (9-11 November). I went to see how Passenger Experience was being provided for in new and existing links. What we heard about Passenger Experience in Helsinki The conference was hosted by Helsinki Airport, which is actually in the adjoining city of Vantaa. With the double aim of linking the two parts of Vantaa and providing a rail link to Helsinki Airport, the Ring Rail Line was opened in 2015. With airport
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Liam
- Oct 18, 2016
- 3 min
Transperth’s Hubs
In the first of our articles on Perth I looked at the Passenger Experience provided across the city. In this second article I’m concentrating on the quirks found in the central interchange stations. For a relatively small city centre, there is a lot of public transport: the high-quality, modern infrastructure provides a comfortable travelling environment but it was the consistency of integration between modes that needed some improvement. Perth Station Perth is the main stati
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Liam
- Sep 13, 2016
- 3 min
Travelling Transperth
In the first of 3 articles covering a visit to Perth, Australia, I travelled around this remote state capital on the relatively modern Transperth network. Transperth forms the urban part of the wider TransWA regional transport network; however, I found a few examples of confusing route maps or non-existent visitor information which make my journey difficult. Tickets I found simply buying a ticket to be a challenge: Trying to get a Smartcard – Having flown in from Hong Kong I
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Liam
- Jul 12, 2016
- 1 min
Whatever Happened to Bangkok’s Airport Express?
The Express Line When Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link the link opened in 2010, there were two service available, an Express (non-stop) service into the city centre and a commuter service stopping at intermediate stations. Since 2014, the Express service has been suspended indefinitely (apparently due to a shortage of trains). Travelling through the airport recently, I saw the abandoned Express Line concourse. The only activity there now is some small businesses such
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Liam
- Jun 14, 2016
- 3 min
Up, Down and Around Hong Kong
In a previous article, I travelled on the Airport Express service into the central district of Hong Kong. Once in the city centre, it rained constantly so I had good use for the public transport options to get around. These included the MTR subway network, on-street light rail and the quite unusual Mid-Levels escalators. Central Hong Kong is split between ‘Central’ on Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon area across Victoria Harbour, on the mainland. The easiest way to travel bet
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Liam
- Apr 11, 2016
- 4 min
Cornwall’s Night Riviera Sleeper Train
As we’d had already travelled on the daytime train to Cornwall we opted to take the Night Riviera sleeper service back to London so that I could maximise the time we had beside the seaside before returning for work in London. This fairly unknown sleeper service seemed the perfect way to minimise travel time. The service runs in both directions between Penzance and London Paddington, every day (except Saturday – I don’t know why). Passengers can buy a sleeper supplement to the
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Liam
- Apr 6, 2016
- 3 min
Eating Your Way To Cornwall
In the hope of seeing some Easter sunshine, I took a trip down to Cornwall to hike some of the South West Coast Path. The fastest journey from London to Penzance takes about 5 hours on Great Western Railway (GWR) so I travelled on the Thursday before Easter in order use a service that offered the full service Pullman restaurant. Overall, I’m glad I did as the Pullman dining service was excellent and well worth the money but beyond the restaurant there were some issues which d
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Liam
- Mar 8, 2016
- 1 min
Nice Tramway
There is always a balance between providing convenient and seamless interchange between transport modes and the constraints of the build environment. Transport planners need to make a pragmatic judgement on the cost of overcoming obstacles versus the benefit to journey experience. Visiting Nice, France recently I saw that the modern tram system built through the city passes along a main arterial road into the city centre passes close to the main railway station but does not t
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