• areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    Electrified rail is expensive and has safety issues. It’s the best option for long distances for sure, but here in the UK we are still trying to electrify the main rail lines, the branch lines and city lines aren’t even in the cards. Being able to recharge trains at stations with rapid charging is the best option for branch and commuter rail services not already on electrified rail (most of them). If we can do that using something other than lithium batteries that would be great. Sodium seems promising. Also I am in Europe you muppet. It also doesn’t solve grid scale storage, which is something we need. I am hoping iron oxide batteries work out for the grid scale storage tbh.

    • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      UK has a problem with rails since Thatcher (IIRC).I

      PS: stop insulting people. Thank you.

      • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Yeah thatcher caused issue when ahe privatized rail operators. She didn’t privatize network rail though, which are the guys responsible for building and maintaining the track including electrification projects. So I don’t think you can pin this one on her. Electrification is prohibitively expensive and incomplete in pretty much every country with older rail networks including the USA, UK, and parts of the EU.

        Also if you don’t want to get insulted maybe stop assuming where I live and what I know about. It’s insulting when people go “In Europe we do x”, like brah I live in Europe and I know about x. X isn’t always the solution to every problem. This is becoming a hammer nail thing.

        • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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          6 months ago

          If the transport companies don’t require electric vehicles the infrastructure company won’t builds it. I don’t say that’s the case but it could be. If everybody has only a bicycle you don’t spend money on a highway.

          • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            That makes no sense. The government owns the railway, not the companies. They are the ones struggling to put in electric lines.

            Also battery electric trains are a big step up from diesel. I don’t get why you are complaining.

            • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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              6 months ago

              My bad. I was going to rant about the relation between train companies having to change the trains.

              But I just remembered who is “governing” UK.

        • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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          6 months ago

          The post is about Biden and Trump. Sorry for assuming things. But that doesn’t mean you have to call me muppet. “I’m British and I disagree” (or something like that) would be better.