Public and Commercial Transport

[NewcastleFalcon]

Its a while since I have seen one of these

A pile of coal

A bag of Coal

Food for this

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

This is an excellent telling of the story of the early days of electrification on the railways of Great Britain.



Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

I'm surprised that HS2 seems not to have made a showing on here, maybe not part of Neil's world yet. . The Birmingham forum has a thread running on the progress.
This struck me as interesting.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dig back and it does feature Gibbo...quite retro-prophetic for your comment

I'm surprised that HS2 seems not to have made a showing on here, maybe not part of Neil's world yet. .

Back in February 2020

Well yesterday was HS2 day, and some bus announcement day. Passed by without comment from the FCF faithful including me.

Certainly not exactly in my back yard and no direct relevance to the public transport round here, but I do come from the point of view of that building a new railway between the great cities of England in the 21st Century should be a reasonable thing to do.

After all the Victorians built the railways at the average rate of 270 miles a year EVERY year for 64 years! That included having to build a few viaducts on the way.

We do seem to make a complete meal of any "large project" in the 21st Century, and all of them take absolutely ages to complete and costs always run completely out of control. We are talking about over 20 years before any HS2 benefits reach "The North".

...and today comes HS2 mark 2. The complete meal of a large project has indeed been made.

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Noticed on the north bank of the Tyne today....a flock of amazon vans

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Would that be a batch of superceded diesels waiting for export I wonder? Amazon are putting more and more electric vans on the road so they must be shedding diesel versions I would have thought?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Would that be a batch of superceded diesels waiting for export I wonder? Amazon are putting more and more electric vans on the road so they must be shedding diesel versions I would have thought?

They were in the same pound as this herd of brand new Audis too far away to work out exactly what the vans were or whether they were coming in or going out. I suspect they were coming in. Not sure if Amazon had a contract with Mercedes for electric vans.

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Maybe these. Amazon has an 18% shareholding in Rivian.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2022-ri ... ok-review/

[NewcastleFalcon]

Maybe these. Amazon has an 18% shareholding in Rivian.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2022-ri ... ok-review/

I should have just got the binoculars out Gibbo, would definitely have been the first spot of the Rivian van. Zooming in on the picture I took, I would say most likely to be Mercedes, Rivians have a much cuter front!

I was right about the contract with Mercedes, with the binoculars I should have been able to tell the difference between a Merc van and a Rivian Van!

I wonder what the range of the Mercedes is. I presume the Amazon ones that I have seen do far more than sixty miles a day.

Not great, but I imagine AMazon will optimise their use within those range constraints. Amazon do have a big partnership with Rivian for 100,000 vehicles over in the USA.

Amazon orders over 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz released the first details about the electric version of its popular Sprinter van last year.

The eSprinter is equipped with a battery capacity of 55 kWh for “an estimated range of 150 kilometres with a maximum payload of 900 kilograms.”

Mercedes-Benz says that there will be “a second battery option” with a “capacity of 41 kWh” that “allows the payload to be increased by around 140 kilograms to a total of 1,040 kilograms with a range of about 115 kilometres.”

The company also has the eVito, a mid-size van with a 41.4 kWh battery pack for a range “around 150 km” (93 miles), according to the German automaker.

With a 84 kW electric motor, the van can achieve a top speed of up to 120 km/h (74 mph).

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Was there a comment Gibbo you have just reproduced my post without adding anything

Regards Neil

Yes Neil, no idea what went wrong there. I said I couldn't see any three pointed stars on the vans in your photo so I assumed not Mercedes, the grille badges ar one word by the look of it, maybe Amazon or Prime, maybe Amazon don't use the Merc badge.

[NewcastleFalcon]

The others in the "pound" were mostly if not exclusively Audi's...would fit with this, maybe they are VW vans for Amazon.

Port of Tyne

THE CHALLENGE: Demand in the UK for Volkswagen Group vehicles is extremely high, and has continued to grow. More than 85% of its UK imports come from Emden, Germany. The group requires import points with flexibility, berth capacity, expert handling and high-quality, secure storage, as close as possible to its dealer network.

THE SOLUTION: The Port of Tyne has been working with Volkswagen Group UK for nearly 15 years, providing berthing facilities able to accommodate their whole range of car carriers. The Port developed the 48-acre Tyne Distribution Centre on the north bank of the river which now processes more than 90,000 vehicles per year. Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle marques are stored ready for distribution to the group's dealer network around the UK.

THE OUTCOME: Port of Tyne has proved an ideal partner for Volkswagen Group, which has described the Tyne's location as perfect for the area it serves. From the Port, Volkswagen Group vehicles make their way by road to dealerships across the North East of England and into Scotland.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Not so sharp now at the sharp end of the ship

This is the type of thing that rolls into the Tyne and drops off its belly full of Cars from Emden in Germany. Arrived 3/07/2022 16.57 departed back to Emden 04/07/2022 06.48

City of Rotterdam

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

This is the age of the....e cargo bike

Amazon: e-cargo bikes to replace thousands of van deliveries in London
Online retailer opening ‘micromobility’ hub in Hackney as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions


Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

That was No 60 in the Shed the other week. It had its day in the sunshine today on the short trip down past the Cawledge Viaduct. Eventually when they get the final bit done it will link with the main line at Alnmouth.

Heading back to Alnwick over Cawledge Viaduct

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Do your Royal Mail vans have a Green Flash

Ours do. Peugeot Partners.

REgards Neil