A year ago, I participated as many others in the Metropolitan Transit Authority's idea challenge on solving the signaling problem within a feasible time and less than the projected >40bn USD costs. Since a child, I personally experienced the subway on numerous visits and was always astound on what the subway managed to perform, especially … Continue reading What’s the matter with New York’s subway
Category: Railways
Railway Maintenance going predictive? – or why you should not ask consulting firms
Since everybody with any useful degree, such as myself with a simple business degree, can raise his or her opinion about some basic mechanics, I can do that too, with this simple comment on a report that was recently published. Railway maintenance is a topic that is very dear to me, hence I often read … Continue reading Railway Maintenance going predictive? – or why you should not ask consulting firms
Why Transportation does not attract relevant Startups
A thing that is bothering for over twenty years is that transport does not seem to attract significant investments and innovations in its sectors. While the IT industry still follows Moor's law (respectively an abrevation of it), transport does not seem to evolve and attract disrupting new players. The role of private players in transport … Continue reading Why Transportation does not attract relevant Startups
Reflections and predictions in the transportation industry 2017/2018
Finally 2018 arrived and a exciting sometimes divisive and decisive 2017 ended. Certainly, the shift in US politics from a pro sustainable energy to a pro fossile energy has create a changing climate for projects in the US as well as in other countries. Nevertheless, Europe and Chine are surpassing the US in technical development … Continue reading Reflections and predictions in the transportation industry 2017/2018
Predictive Maintenance – selling snake oil to a gullible audience
We have reached now a computation power where machine learning algorithms can easily be applied across a spectrum of industries to resolve a huge variety of problems. While first successes are also published in the railway industry this also opens up the market for what I call "snake-oil-resellers". Companies or individuals that use publicly available models, claim … Continue reading Predictive Maintenance – selling snake oil to a gullible audience
Redesign ERTMS deployment across Europe
We all wanted to have a solid and fast ERTMS deployment across Europe, but so far the project is not gaining speed and only a few projects could be deployed. What did go wrong and how can we redesign the approach to faster reach our common objectives? To cut it short, in my opinion, there … Continue reading Redesign ERTMS deployment across Europe
Investing in concrete or intelligence
This fall, the Swiss transport authority (Bundesamt für Verkehr -BAV) announced the plans to invest heavily in railway infrastructure until 2035. Over 200 Projects and 11.5 bn CHF will be invested in tunnels, concrete and steel across the country. Last Sunday, an NZZ article (in German) has allowed an alternative view on the intended infrastructure … Continue reading Investing in concrete or intelligence
Why rolling stock consolidation plans are flawed and should be abolished
Last week, it became clear that not only Bombardier and Siemens but also Alstom and Siemens appear to be in merger discussions. This is why I would like to point out a bit the rationale behind these two proposals and explain why I think their plan is flawed. Reasons for consolidation First of all, it is … Continue reading Why rolling stock consolidation plans are flawed and should be abolished
Why the US is overpaying for Rolling Stock
As a child, I instantly recognized the difference between trains in the US and Europe. The rolling stock in the USA stood out due to their bad condition, their perceived age and their perceived inconvenience for passengers. It seemed to me, that the trains there are at least 15-20 years older then comparable counterparts in … Continue reading Why the US is overpaying for Rolling Stock
Mapping out the future of Railways in Africa
When reading (and also ordering) the map on the future of railways in SEA (see also Mapping out the future of railways in Southeast Asia ) made by James Clark, I was keen to do something similar for Africa. With the rise of Chinese Investments in Africa, more projects which seemed to be once very visionary have … Continue reading Mapping out the future of Railways in Africa
mobilistics 