iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

During China's National day Guangzhou S Station operated for 24 hrs straight with HSR trains departing almost every minute. Handling over 1 million HSR passengers and dispatching over 1,200 HSR trains it became the 1st HSR station on Earth to serve 1 million people in a day.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Walked around Lhasa and took the bus back to my hotel.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Shunting action at Lhasa Railway Station.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It's important to note that I rather have some (even a lot of) "over building" at reasonable, or better yet, low costs over "cost optimized, value engineered" rapid transit designs built at high costs.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Excellent article on the emerging field of high speed metros, which are blossoming across China with operational systems in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Ningbo, Nanjing and Beijing while Shanghai, Shenyang, Changsha and Wuhan are planning theirs.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Riding along the unelectrifed Qinghai-Tibet Railway I noticed at one of the passing loops there was a section of newly installed overhead catenary with no tracks under it. Must be China testing railway electrification operating in the harsh high altitude conditions of the Tibetan Plateau.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Hugo von der Thüsen @hugovdthusen.com · 22/09/2026

InnoTrans thread day 1

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Qinghai-Tibet railway exists over 4,500 m above sea level. It crosses many areas with permafrost which thaws and freezes constantly, causing foundation issues for anything built on top. The railway has radiator sticks that cool the soil under so it is always frozen and stable.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released it's FY2025 Urban Railway Congestion Survey during the summer of 2026. I wrote a post with some of my thoughts on the results and Japanese train crowding in general. You can read it below:

jrurbanenetwork.substack.com

Situation of Train Crowding in Japan

Getting better and not what it used to be.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Always wild to board a train, fall asleep in Xining then wake up cruising across the Tibetan Plateau on a China Railways train at over 4,500m above sea level. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway running across the "roof of the world".

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Stopped by Xining who possesses the Omsk Metro of China. Xining rail station pre-built parts of a Metro station in anticipation for the construction Xining Metro. However new rules prevent new metro construction. The metro entrances are in use with original metro signs covered.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I guess this is the future YIMBYs want?

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Where will JRUrbane travel to next? It's not really urbane and doesn't really have a rail network per se.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A China Railway express mail train. China has a vast nationwide network of mail and parcel rail services.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I guess this is the future YIMBYs want?

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Riding the tram from work today, a 契弟 in an Audi R8 got frustrated with Queens Rd C traffic and used the bus lane to swing into Des Voeux Rd C which has general thru traffic restrictions to prioritize buses & trams. R8 blasts pass the restrictions but there is a cop there ready with a ticket.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Californians for Electric Rail @calelectricrail.org · 09/09/2026

Too often the North American response to escalating transit costs is to aim lower - hydrogen instead of electric trains, low- instead of high-speed rail. We need to fix the root cause of high costs - onerous permitting, weak state capacity, unreliable funding - not settle for less.

Hong Kong may have horrible cost control, but the city is building some of the most complex and highest capacity projects on Earth. In my Toronto Tragedy article, one thing to note is that while metro construction costs in Toronto are high down-scoping a metro project to a light metro or light rail project is only a solution to reduce “sticker shock”. However, they treat both these alternatives as providing equal value in speed, comfort and capacity. This is incorrect, sacrifices have been made in the design that erode the value of the project.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The Japanese SNS train memes continue.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Many of Changchun Metro's stations are built using modular construction. Interlocking concrete arch segments were used to create vaults for station mezzanine. Many stations spotlight these feature in their design with a bare concrete curved ceiling.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Two Shanghai Metro Line 16 locals pull into a station with passing loops to allow Line 16 express services to pass.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Chengdu Metro S5 line, A 60km long high speed metro line. Estimated to be 110 million USD/km to build, adjusted for local costs. Trains will operate up to 160kph and stations will have passing loops for express services.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Reece Martin @rmtransit.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The latest post on The Transit Brief comes from Chinese transit aficionado @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social and myself and discusses how transit might be costing even more than we expect. www.thetransitbrief.net/p/subways-ar...

thetransitbrief.net

Subways are costing even more than we think.

A new angle on the growing Anglosphere cost crisis.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I guess this is the future YIMBYs want?

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

My contribution to the ongoing Japanese SNS train sounds meme.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Finch West to Humber College is the WHOLE LINE. Remember people, Toronto paid 300 million per km to build this surface suburban tramway and it runs like this:

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

RT with your home river My ancestors lived along the Pearl River for several centuries and eventually floated down to Hong Kong in the modern era.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

High Speed Rail is the Chinese zeitgeist.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I guess this is the future YIMBYs want.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I don't get it, can't you just put glass doors?

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I read this headline standing inside a Shenzhen EV showroom last weekend. I get it, they don't want Americans having access to such affordable, innovative, well made and feature rich Chinese products.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Jonathan English @englishrail.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Liverpool's Merseyrail was one of the earliest modern regional rail systems, but it never ended up becoming a national model. It's an unfortunate wrong turn because UK cities tend to have very extensive local rail networks to convert. infrastory.substack.com/p/englands-m...

infrastory.substack.com

England’s Model Should Have Been Merseyrail

A wrong turn in the 80s can still be corrected

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A new collaborative post with Reece on their excellent public transportation newsletter The Transit Brief. In this joint effort, we propose a more focused perspective on normalizing transit costs by using ultimate capacity of a Metro project’s design.

open.substack.com

Subways are costing even more than we think.

A new angle on the growing Anglosphere cost crisis.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Jonathan English @englishrail.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The Crosstown Expressway was unsurprisingly the first of Toronto's expressway projects to be abandoned.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The SNCF or any "just hire the Cinese/Spaniards, etc." are the Foreign Popes trope of project delivery. It's doesn't work. California, Canada, etc. will have to work through the problems themselves. They can learn from SNCF and the likes, but they can't have them solve their problems for them.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Always refreshing to walk around Shenzhen and see metro construction activity everywhere I go. Shenzhen has over 250km of metro lines simultaneously under construction.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Changsha Metro Line 2 West Extension Phase 2 opened today. The fully underground project is 13.8km long with 11 stations and started construction in mid 2021 and costs 260 million INT$/km. This extension brings the 12 year old Changsha Metro to almost 230km in length.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Moments where three high speed trains are racing each other has become increasingly common in China.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Read below on how different transit operators define crowding. I made pictures to help you visualize, below is Japanese/Korean, Western and Chinese crowding standards inside 1 m² of space. With standard sized food for scale (4th pic). Bonus last pic of Chinese Guangzhou Metro L3 crush load.

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Reposted by JRUrbaneNetwork

Infrastory @infrastory.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Endless arguments ensue about how many stops high speed trains should have but this is the wrong question; the right question is what the different service patterns look like. You can always have an Express. Read the latest Infrastory: infrastory.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...

infrastory.substack.com

The Myth of Non-Stop High-Speed Rail

High speed doesn’t have to mean non-stop.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Different countries' crowding measurement standards create confusion when comparing international data. In this post, I dive into differences which shape policy and public views of a railway system. You can read below:

jrurbanenetwork.substack.com

How Crowded is my Train?

Different countries' crowding measurement standards create confusion when comparing international data.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Happy to have chatted with Carolyn of Designed in China fame over dinner. She did a quick write up attempting to distill some of the China-centric topics we discussed about.

designedinchina.substack.com

Open Source Train-ing Data

Lessons from trains

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Changchun opened Line 7 yesterday at 8:08 AM. Line 7 is a 23.2km long fully underground 19 station southern suburban tangential line. Estimated to cost 210 million USD/km to build. The Changchun Metro is now over 140 kilometers long. Pictures by 樱桃小丸子🍒.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This how Shenzhen redevelops it's urban villages now. Below was Hubei Urban Village. Hong Kong style high density/height, cuneiform floor plates and birthday cake building form. These three buildings I believe is Phase III, there are at least 10 phases in this development.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Below is an excellent summary debunking the pervasive myths about the history of Toronto's transit system and a step in the right direction on correcting the record driving Toronto’s ridiculous transit discourse. A must read.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Reece of The Transit Brief fame: "In China, parts of the country with low construction costs — notably the Pearl River Delta — are seeing much faster metro expansion than more expensive places like Shanghai." Me: "Pearl River Delta mentioned!"

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Working on a few more long form posts right now but thanks everyone for making me rising in Technology, East Asian metro systems are full of it!

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I guess this is the future YIMBYs want?

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

In July, all Shanghai Metro Line 6 ½ & full height platform gates have completed refurbishment & rebuild for integration with line wide signal upgrades. The new UTO moving block CBTC system will run in 2027. Work was done at night over a few months with minimal effect to service.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Toronto would build this for over 1.7 billion dollars per kilometer and somehow gaslight themselves into thinking that cost is reasonable because Canada is constrained by land rights, labour unions, safety standards, maternity leave and universal healthcare unlike... France.

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JRUrbaneNetwork @jrurbanenetwork.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The world's largest (not tallest) tower crane in China, used to build Chinese nuclear power plants.

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