User:Martinvl/Sandbox/British Transport

Rail incident http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/120627_R112012_Llanbadarn.pdf Good summary of ERTMS - http://www.irse.org/knowledge/publicirsenews/IRSE%20News%20133%20Apr%2008.pdf Recommends both km/h and mph - http://www.rssb.co.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/pdf/reports/Research/T084_rpt_final.pdf Delivery plan - http://ec.europa.eu/transport/rail/interoperability/ertms/doc/edp/national_deployment_plans/united_kingdom_ndp.pdf mph vs km/h - http://www.rssb.co.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/pdf/reports/research/Development%20of%20national%20values%20for%20European%20Rail%20Traffic%20Management%20System%20train%20control%20parameters.pdf

Edinburgh tram facts

ertms can be km/h or mph, specified by region - http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Railway_Group_Standards/Control%20Command%20and%20Signalling/Guidance%20Notes/GEGN8602%20Iss%201.pdf

For ERTMS lines, speeds will be in km/h -

IMPLEMENTING ERTMS IN THE UK: HUMAN FACTORS IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAIN DRIVERS

Derek Porter BSc(Hons) MErgS Human Factors Skill Leader AEA Technology Rail

compatibility between mph and km/h -  www.intlrailsafety.com/Tokyo/3-2Tokyo_FullPaper.doc

Rail transport
The main push towards using the metric system took place during the early 1970's. In respect of the railway industry, the engineering aspects of the railways were metricated but by and large, there was no change in the operational aspects of the railways apart from new lines which where the metic rther than the imperial system was introduced.

Railway infrastructure
The metrication of the the United Kingdom's railway network was a classic "soft metrication" exercise - anything else would have required a gauge conversion.

An 1845 Act of Parliament fixed British track gauges at 4 ft 8½ in and Irish track gauges at 5 ft 3 in. The 4 ft 8½ in gauge, now known as "Standard Gauge" was the basis of 60% of the world's railways and is expressed as 1,435 mm – a decrease of 0.1 mm, but well within engineering tolerance. The Irish 5 ft 3 in gauge is now referred to as a 1,600 mm gauge – the difference between the metric and imperial values being 0.2 mm, again well within engineering tolerances.

The specifications of loading gauge and other parameters that engineers need to use when designing rolling stock and lineside structures were converted to metric units during the 1970's, with the specifications having been updated many times. .

Railway operations
Track distances in Britain's rail network haved traditionally been shown in miles and chains, with speed limits in miles per hour. These were not converted during Britian's metrication program of the 1970's, though the metric system has been adopted for operational use in new railway systems that were developed since the 1970's. These include the various light railway systems such as the Tyne and Wear Metro (1980), Docklands Light Railway (1987), Manchester Metrolink (1992), Sheffield Supertram (1994),  Midland Metro (1999),  Croydon Tramlink (2000), Nottingham Express Transit (2004) and Edinburgh Trams (under construction). Unlike other light railways which were constructed in the post-1970 era, the Blackpool tramway, which dates back to 1885 uses mph.

- explicitly stated (applicable to all light railways)
 * Channel Tunnel Railway

, although lineside signs and in-cab computer displays are now metric on routes where the latest 'ERTMS' signalling system has been installed and on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Metro and light-rail systems such as the London Underground, Tyne and Wear Metro, and Croydon metro also operate using metric units.

Aviation
Units of measure used in aviation can be split into two groups - those used during aircraft design and construction and those used during operations.

Aircraft design
In the immediate post-war years the United Kingdom had an independent aircraft industry - all-British aircraft included the De Havilland Comet, Vickers VC10 and the V bomber family, all of which had been designed and built using imperial units. From the 1960's onwards however, the United Kingdom entered into many joint ventures with other European aircraft manufacturers.

Imperial units were used in 1960 in the design of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) supersonic Bristol 198. The proposed aircraft would have been very expensive and BAC entered into a joint venture with the French firm Sud-Aviation who were also designing a supersonic passenger aircraft. The resultant aircraft was Concorde which, after many expensive design overruns, entered commercial service in 1976. Imperial units were used for the sections built by the British team and metric units for those built by the French team.

The Jaguar program began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement (Air Staff Target 362) for an advanced supersonic jet trainer and a French requirement (ECAT or École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique, "Tactical Combat Support Trainer") for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in May 1965, for the two countries to develop two aircraft, a trainer based on the ECAT, and the larger AFVG (Anglo-French Variable Geometry) In the same year that the Memorandum of Understanding was signed, the then Federation of British Industry informed the British Government that its members favoured the adoption the metric system. The Jaguar was designed using metric units and entered service in the British and French Airforces in 1974 and 1973 respectively and as of July 2012 was still in service in the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force of Oman. Subsequent military aircraft designed and built by Pan-European teams included the Panavia Tornado and the Eurofighter Typhoon, both multirole combat aircraft.



Airbus Industrie, the makers of the Airbus began in 1967 as a consortium of French, German and British aviation firms to compete with American companies such as Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Lockheed. It was formally established as a Groupement d'Interet Économique (Economic Interest Group or GIE) on 18 December 1970. The consortium produced a series of successful aircraft including the A300 the group’s first aircraft which entered service in 1974, the A320 and variants which first entered service in 1988 and which in 2005 ranked as the world's fastest-selling jet airliner family and the A380 which entered service in 2007 as the world's largest passenger jet with a seating capacity of up to 853 passengers. By 2010 the consortium was equal in size to Boeing.

After a flurry of discussions in the 1970's, the United States aircraft industry has continued to use customary units. During the first decade of the twenty-first century, both the Airbus A380 the Boeing Dreamliner flagship subcontracted manufacturing operations to countries in South East Asia. Delays on the production of the Dreamliner compared to those on the A380 led to speculation in the trade press that this was due to the Airbus using metric units unlike Boeing who used "mediaeval units". Although it was acknowledged that this had caused problems, the claim that this was the only problem was dismissed.

Air Traffic Control
In its early days, most of British aviation used imperial units. With the advent of metrication, the industry started using metric units, and as of 2012 a significant proportion of the information supplied in the United Kingdom Aeronatical Information Publication is in metric units, though a few measurements are still given in imperial units. The following items are catalogued for each airfield in the United Kingdom:
 * Runway and clearway length and width - metres
 * Visibility - metres or kilometres as appropriate
 * Distances from airfield - nautical miles
 * Altitude - feet above sea level or flight level (FL = multiples of 100 ft)
 * Fuel capacity/delivery - litres and litres/minute
 * Temperature - degrees celsius

The publication Airport data, published by the Liaison Group of UK Airport Consultative Committees, uses metric units, apart from elevation which is given in feet.

Air Pilots Manual

Aviation checklist - http://lahso.megginson.com/2005/10/28/flying-and-the-metric-system/
 * US aviation - metric http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/careers/q0273.shtml
 * US mission to UK & DE - http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770008274_1977008274.pdf
 * Air cadets - good section on metrication - http://www.aircadetonline.com/flash_site/assets/pdf_files/acp32_4.pdf
 * Abstract only - http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983saea.cong.....P
 * Boeing v Airbus - http://agmetalminer.com/2011/08/16/not-so-fast-comac-c919-is-doa-but-boeing-and-airbus-duopoly-dead-anyway/
 * Concorde - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZNIOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=metrication+concorde&source=bl&ots=i3cMH2M-Xp&sig=5LUe5UHCyTytJny3zelvieR5pGA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nor8T-iGFcPZ8AOd0ZSkBw&sqi=2&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=metrication%20concorde&f=false
 * Concorde - half metric; Jaguar - metric - http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1969/jun/26/metrication-of-weights-and-measures para 283