Analysis

A collection of 288 posts

Analysis

Carbon neutral year? Well, lower carbon at least

I like to consider myself as being reasonably environmentally friendly but I've not been as systematic about it as I might have been until now. So 2008 I'm going to do better... 1. All electricity at home is green electricity, supplied by Lampiris and I have

Analysis

The unique challenge of a Belgian junction

Belgium is one of the last places where the priorité à  droite rule still applies to traffic (more from Marko and Expatica) - i.e. when on any road you should give priority to traffic joining from the right. If you're on a major thoroughfare and there'

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Eurostar grandeur

My Eurostar leans into a curve as the twinkling lights of Calais disappear into the distance, accelerating into northern France. With the dark of an autumn evening outside the window only the dull reverberations of the air on the carriage walls convey the impression of speed. Yet only forty-five minutes

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Good Dutch design, so I'm set for stylish cycling

It's been a long search (see this post for all the links), but I reckon I have now managed to find the best cycle pannier bag anywhere in Europe - the Basil Preston office bag, aubergine. I don't think the picture here really does it justice.

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Airport signs: the serious and the frivolous

It's a serious issue: what rights do airline passengers get when their flights have been delayed? The EU has agreed tough rules to oblige airlines to pay, and in Brussels airport there are signs (shown on the right here) that explain those rights. Low cost carriers have not

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Streetcar plays cleverly on gender stereotypes

From this month's Streetcar newsletter: Not since Mrs Dewbury’s husband ran off with the milkman had news travelled so fast on Chalton Street. Read it, and then read it again. It was accompanied by the cartoon shown. 'Mrs' and 'milkman' in the same

Analysis

De-training and a first ever missed flight

I've just returned from a weekend in Ireland (Giant's Causeway, Enniskillen, Sligo, Belfast). The weekend was excellent, but it did not start well. The 0601 Thameslink / First Capital Connect train from Elephant & Castle to Luton Airport brought down the power lines between Farringdon and Kings

Analysis

Stylish cycling, from Berlin to Barcelona, via Zürich

I've just spent a week in Berlin where plenty of people had Freitag bags - made by a firm in Zürich from recycled tarpaulin and other things. The firm started by making bags for cycle couriers, but those are no good really for commuters - I need a

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Fleeced by First

It should not be too complex. I needed to travel from London Paddington to Oxford on Wednesday this week, departing at about 1700 and returning at 2200. I pottered off to Victoria station, very close to my workplace, to get the ticket for my journey. The machine there - screen

Analysis

Rev your bus less

I happened to notice a billboard similar to the image here at Kensington Olympia yesterday, encouraging drivers to rev their cars less and hence save on fuel (and CO2 emissions). It's a Department for Transport campaign, and there's a special website for it too. While I&

Analysis

The underground challenge sub-culture

A whole bunch of Helena's relatives are here in Åre this evening, and the kids are playing with a London Underground jigsaw puzzle. This led us on to a discussion about the underground and 2 mad Swedes that presently hold the record for the quickest journey to all

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Shielded from the underground life

I'm not cycling today - the lock is stuck and hence my bike is resolutely attached to a drain pipe behind my flat in Walworth. So - for the first time for ages - I took the Underground to work. While the Bakerloo and District lines were working

Analysis

2 near misses in a day - sick of other cyclists

It's not very pleasant when you come close to having a cycle accident twice in a day. It's even more frustrating when both near misses were due to other cyclists not respecting the road rules - jumping red lights to be precise. This morning at the

Analysis

So we need to go to IKEA. Streetcar...

What do you do if you live in central London, rely on a bike and the bus to get around, but just once in a while want to go to places the railway won't take you or where you just can't carry all you need to

Analysis

Get over the M4 coach crash paranoia

Death on the roads! Nightmare coach crash! Take double decker coaches out of service! Britain has been in the grip of coach crash paranoia over the last two days after a nasty accident on the M4 close to Heathrow [BBC]. Suggestions in the newspapers have ranged from compulsory seatbelts (sensible)

Analysis

Trains, planes and the ethics of travel

There’s no other sensible way to get from London to Porto than to fly; I’m afraid I don’t have the time or the money to take the train via Paris and Madrid. But the economics of my trip to Porto are

Analysis

You carry your prejudices with you: Eurostar advertising

I'm a big fan of Eurostar, the highspeed rail service between London and Paris / Brussels. It's efficient, reliable, and so much better than flying. Further, thanks to the recent security problems at UK airports, the company is doing excellent business. But what about their advertising? However

Analysis

What is it about my visits to The Netherlands?

I’m jinxed. Whenever I travel to The Netherlands, things always go wrong. I’m sat writing this on the slowest train I’ve been on for quite a few years. It’s the small local service between Maastricht and Liège,

Analysis

Motivation of London bus drivers

I've spent far too long this weekend on London buses, first of all on the torturously slow 341 bus route on the way back from Ikea in Edmonton, and then today on a variety of different routes, including route 171 of London General (pictured).The driver of the

Analysis

Autumn Fog

I’m sat writing this at Stockholm Arlanda airport; I’m stranded here all day today as my flight to London was cancelled due to a technical fault with the aircraft. It’s my last visit to Stockholm for some time, and I will

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New iris technology and a delightfully old-fashioned airline

Seems quite rare, but I actually have some positive experiences to report when flying! I have just flown to and from Bucharest with TAROM, it was really quite passable. A cooked meal is served, even in economy, and it looks like a small company in Romania manufactured everything; no Gategourmet

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Sheer incompetence from SAS

On the face of it, overbooking aircraft seems to make perfect sense. Not every person is going to turn up for a flight, so why worry? Well, more often that not, more than the required number of people does turn up. For the 2005 departure this evening from Stockholm Arlanda

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Life vest under your seat

Each time you fly the cabin staff encourages you to listen carefully to the safety demonstration on board aircraft type XYZ. I seem to fly so often with Ryanair Boeing 737-800 series planes that I could probably do the safety briefing myself. But ask yourself this. Have you ever really

Analysis

All 5 London airports, and then the real world

The blog has been a bit quiet recently as I have spent the last 6 days in Sweden; 4 of those days were in a small house close to Nyköping in the countryside with no internet connection. But today I'm back in London, and it's back

Analysis

Plane pilots: a uniquely male preserve?

It dawned on me when en route from Stockholm to Heathrow with British Airways this morning that I don't think I have ever flown in a plane piloted by a woman. I fly far more than I really ought to, and have perhaps taken 50 or so return