Rail Transport | Digital Crosstalk

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Brian and team, who work for a digital marketing agency run this Digital Crosstalk blog.
Occasionally we might blog about companies and people we work with but for the most part we'll simply be blogging about stories and events which we find interesting.

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18th
FEB

Machu Picchu to reopen to tourists from April

Posted by Brian | Filed under tourism

: Image by teague03 via Flickr

The ancient Incan ruins of Machu Piccu are set to reopen to tourists on 1st April. The site has been closed to visitors since heavy rain stranded hundreds of tourists in January, creating mud slides that cut off roads and blocked a railway line between the site and the nearby city of Cusco.

Tourist officials in Peru have said that the waterline of the Vilcanota River has dropped enough to allow for repairs to be carried out to the railway line after which the historic site can be reopened.

In January, tourists had to be airlifted from the site after becoming stranded while more than 10,000 people were affected in the region surrounding Machu Piccchu.

Tags: Cusco, Machu Picchu, Peru, Rail transport, South America, tourism, travel, Urubamba River

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26th
AUG

Network Rail outline plan for £34bn London to Scotland line

Posted by Brian | Filed under rail

: Image via Wikipedia

Network Rail have outlined plans to build a high-speed rail line between London and Scotland which could see journey times cut to as little as two hours. The line would run from central London via Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington, Liverpool and Preston to Glasgow and Edinburgh reports the Telegraph online.

The new line could see journeys between London and Birmingham take around forty-five minutes, while Preston would take around one-and-a-quarter hours before the line splits further north to service both Glasgow and Edinburgh. The times projected for the two Scottish cities are Glasgow in two hours sixteen minutes, while reaching the Scottish capital from London would be a journey of two hours nine minutes.

The line comes with a projected cost of $34billion but Network Rail believes the scheme could generate around £55billion in revenue.

While a definitive route has not been planned, Network Rail claim the line could offer up to sixteen trains a hour to and from London, providing over 9,000 seats for passengers. Eight new stations with 400 metre-long platforms, more than 1,500 miles of track, 34 miles of tunnels and 32 bridges over motorways would have to be constructed, along with new terminal stations in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh to make the plans work.

However, Network Rail stressed they would not undertake the project themselves, but the feasibility of the project might appeal to a consortium such as the one which built the London to Folkestone rail link, says the Telegraph.

Of course, the times quoted are all subject to railworks, strikes and leaves on the track.