Mastodawn

ÉcoTrain: €3 million to answer the wrong question
https://jonworth.eu/ecotrain-eu3-million-to-answer-the-wrong-question/

The problem with branch lines is seldom THE TRAIN. It is THE TRACK and the lack of available finance. Some autonomous Gadgetbahn is not going to fix that mundane problem!

ÉcoTrain: €3 million to answer the wrong question

It is one of the 100 startups to watch in France, according to Challenges - ÉcoTrain wants to build a new train to run on abandoned branch lines, and they have €3 million of initial funding. They even brought their prototype to the Elysée, and you can find more background

Jon Worth

Ondřej Michálek 1d ago

@jon are you saying that people don’t necessarily need to commute from abandoned factory to the closest port?

More that the track from the abandoned factory to the closest port has trees growing through it, all level crossings were paved over in the 1990s, and what remains looks mostly like spaghetti. These are the expensive things to fix. That the lines aren’t always optimal is yet another issue.

210561 ✨ [Q]1d ago

@jon honestly if reopening a line means pulling a Br628 or two out of storage to make it work cheaply I wouldn’t be over the moon, but it would be A Train Service

Jon Worth 1d ago

@q Right. Or a Talent or a Desiro DMU. Whatever. But *A TRAIN* that we know works. PLEASE.

Daniel Brotherston 1d ago

@jon I understand the believe for techies that there must be a technical solution to non-technical problems. And to be fair, there are often technical solutions that make fixing the problem more feasible.

E.g., with transport, autonomous buses would make mass transit more feasible in more places, but ultimately yeah, nerds just like trains.

Jon Worth 1d ago

@danbrotherston Then run *an autonomous bus*

The place to start with autonomous trains is also not on rural lines, but with metros. Benefit is larger, and it is safer.

Daniel Brotherston 1d ago

@jon I literally said autonomous buses.

Jon Worth 1d ago

@danbrotherston Sorry, my mind is tired. Apologies!

Daniel Brotherston 1d ago

@jon No worries :)

Stefan Lindbohm 1d ago

@jon Another one to file under ”we wanted to work on ’the sustainable future’™ because it’s flashy, futuristic and promises magical solutions with no change of mindset/effort required”.

It’s also seemingly a lot easier to fund, among others by public grants. Trying to get a grant for a simple solution that will save co2 starting tomorrow? LOL, why would we.

Tachibana Kanade 1d ago

@jon Is this a rehash of the Very Light Rail that’s been doing not much beyond consuming money and generating headlines in the UK? (Not the Coventry one, the other one)

Jon Worth 1d ago

@h0m54r maybe? 🤷‍♂️ There are so many of these weird projects (I know of 5 in France alone!) that I am not sure precisely what they have in common with each other (or not!)

@jon I went looking for a pic. Your article is currently the #1 hit for me on DuckDuckGo when searching for "ÉcoTrain." ✔️

Jon Worth 1d ago

@tops There is also a service somewhere in Canada called Eco-Train that sometimes crops up! Not handy branding, when that is a polluting diesel!

@jon 🤦🏻‍♂️