Transport Archives - Mechtraveller

Air New Zealand launch Economy Class Bunk Beds

Alastair — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:57:07 +0000

Air New Zealand (ANZ) have unveiled their new economy class ‘Skynest’ mini dormitories, featuring six bunks that will be available to book on flights from 18 May 2026. Each Skynest bunk (“pod”) provides a quiet, private space with a full-length mattress, bedding, ambient lighting, ventilation and charging ports (USB C & A). The six-bunk Skynest […]

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The annual 1000 Miglia classic car rally is both a motorsport and tourism event

Alastair — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:40:13 +0000

This year’s ‘1000 Miglia Experience Italy’ classic car rally is almost upon us*. For the first time, the 1000 Miglia will take place entirely in Puglia. From 9 to 12 April, the crews will embark on a journey that combines a passion for driving with the exploration of iconic landscapes and villages steeped in history, […]

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What’s the significance of Brittany Ferries’ New-Generation Cross-Channel Ferries?

Alastair — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 10:10:37 +0000

Almost one year ago, Brittany Ferries introduced their new flagship ‘Guillaume de Normandie‘, intended to replace the old ‘Normandie‘ on their Portsmouth – Caen/Ouistreham* route. Like her sister ship, Saint-Malo (SM), which began operating Portsmouth – St Malo two months earlier, the Guillaume de Normandie (GdN) is not a simple replacement, she’s a Chinese-built new-generation […]

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Great Central Railway is to host a classic diesel locomotive this year

Alastair — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 17:18:56 +0000

The Great Central Railway (GCR) has confirmed that Class 55 Deltic D9015 Tulyar will be based at the heritage railway during 2026* and that it will hopefully mark a major milestone for diesel preservation when it hauls its first passenger train in 29 years. Owned by the Deltic Preservation Society (DPS), D9015 is one of […]

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Chinese eVTOL Developer Unveils the World’s First 5-Ton Class eVTOL Aircraft

Alastair — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:51:35 +0000

One of the earliest eVTOL developers, Autoflight, has revealed Matrix, the world’s first 5-ton class electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Matrix successfully completed a public full transition flight demonstration this week at the company’s low-altitude flight test facility centre in Kunshan,Jiangsu Province. During the demonstration (flying alongside AutoFlight’s 2-ton CarryAll cargo eVTOL), Matrix […]

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What would happen if your preferred Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) shut down?

Alastair — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 15:36:08 +0000

This is some interesting engineering. Have you wondered, as you watch your Amazon parcel “just 5 stops away”, what our world would look like if we suddenly lost GPS? It’s not just you, and a squillion delivery drivers. It would effect all transport systems (apart maybe for rail!), and it’s estimated that just a short […]

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200 Years of Railway Heritage celebrated at the Vienna Museum of Science and Technology

Alastair — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:21:20 +0000

The Museum of Science and Technology in Vienna (Technisches Museum Wien) is, like us in the UK, celebrating 200 years of technical and social advances brought about by the railway. Their temporary exhibition Under the Spell of the Railway – 200 Years of Rail Transport, opened in October and uses impressive models, historical objects, and […]

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The Rotabuggy

Alastair — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 15:53:40 +0000

Designed in 1943 by Austrian aeronautical engineer, Raoul Hafner, for the British Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE), the Hafner Rotabuggy was a standard Willey’s Jeep converted into an autogyro*. What is an autogyro? Well, like a helicopter it has rotor blades, but unlike a helicopter they are not powered. The blades autorotate with forward motion, […]

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XPENG is promoting its personal eVTOL aircraft carrier in the Middle East

Alastair — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:22:16 +0000

A Chinese company’s combination multi-rotor, 2-seat eVTOL aircraft and state-of-the-art transporter vehicle, is already taking orders, especially in the Middle East where it has recently completed its first global public manned flight. In the UK, hardly anyone has heard of XPENG but it is one of China’s foremost and most technologically advanced EV manufacturers. Their […]

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Sail-powered cargo ship will also carry passengers

Alastair — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:23:23 +0000

Yesterday, the French shipping company Neoline held a naming ceremony in its registration port of Nantes for its first sail-powered Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) cargo ship. As I write, Neoliner Origin, is heading down the Loire estuary* passing the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard at St. Nazaire where she got her two giant, self-furling, self-adjusting SolidSails that […]

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