train

The Silver Route seemed like the perfect train for the Spanish west. They seek to recover it with one objective: forget about Madrid

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Cáceres and Salamanca are separated by just 200 kilometers but the journey takes seven hours in the best of cases and requires passing through Madrid. We talked, of course, about going by train. And the capitals of these two provinces represent one of the biggest railway holes that our country has. The situation is not unique in Spain (from Murcia to Granada you also have to go through Madrid) but perhaps it is more bloody because one day there was that option that structured the west of Spain. It was known as the Silver Route. Now, more than 40 years after its closure, there are those who continue fighting for its reopening. A line that was born sentenced From Seville to Gijón, passing through Mérida, Cáceres, Salamanca, León or Oviedo. The Silver Route It was designed as a railway corridor for passengers and goods away from the large Spanish economic centers. It was about finding an alternative so that not everything went through Madrid, Bilbao or Barcelona. And, curiously, its origin must be sought very far from these cities. It was in Paris in 1877 when the contract was signed to build a railway between Palazuelo (current Monfragüe station) and Astorga, they explain in The Extremadura Newspaper. The project was ambitious as it passed through a lot of unpopulated area in its attempt to connect the north of Extremadura with Salamanca, Zamora and León. Yet, the line went ahead in the last years of the 19th century. Between 1893 and 1896, the four sections that would end up forming the most representative axis of the line were inaugurated from south to north. This was the backbone of a road that connected to the south with the Mérida-Seville section and the Venta de Baños-Gijón in the north. Without a large city to drive it and without direct access to a large port, the line was falling into ostracism. First, because the State did not find sufficient reasons to modernize it and, at least, electrify it. And without investments, the tortuous path became less attractive for passengers and companies. The axis survived the Civil War but beforehand an investment had been requested that never arrived. In 1933, the iron bridges were replaced by steel ones but no major efforts were made. In the following years, they point out in the local mediaderailments and accidents multiplied due to lack of investment. For decades, once sentenced, the line remained open but in 1984 its definitive closure was confirmed. By then, the trains were barely running at 50 km/h, an average speed lower than that recorded during their opening. A train bus accident in 1981 in which a woman died put the finishing touches on a decision that began decades ago when no one wanted to invest in the western axis. Let it come back! Today, the connection between Cáceres and Seville, passing through Mérida, continues to exist, although it is a single-lane railway and is not electrified. The connection between Salamanca and Gijón is also maintained. But how you can see on this Adif mapa hole separates Cáceres and Salamanca. From Plasencia, you will see a green line leaving towards the north. In Salamanca, another leaves in a southerly direction. Are they projects to recover this train? No, they are Greenwaysconditioning of the old railway section to convert them into easy paths for walking, running or cycling. What some institutions have been demanding for years is that these Greenways are not the only vestige that remains from those days. In 2023, the city councils of Salamanca, Cáceres, Béjar, Plasencia Guijuelo and Hervás together with the Chambers of Commerce of those first three cities signed an institutional declaration demanding the return of the train. “Employment, creation of opportunities, logistical development, diversification of the productive system and stopping depopulation,” with these words they began a text to justify their demands. It pointed out some technical issues such as that the section between Plasencia and Salamanca has 4G network coverage on 90% of the route. But, above all, it was remembered that the new train could be an alternative route for the transport of goods in the western area, capable of connecting the Atlantic ports in the north with those in the south without passing through Madrid. This was the premise, in fact, with which the idea of ​​resurrecting the West Corridorunder the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. A project that, as they remember in the text, was not carried out. in the diary Today They collected information that the Gijón Chamber of Commerce put on the table in 2022 to defend this line: it could capture up to 625,000 journeys for goods which now carry trucks going up the A-66, also known as Vía de la Plata. Beyond unfulfilled promises (in addition to Zapatero, José María Aznar also promised to reopen the line after Felipe González closed it to passengers in 1984 and to goods well into the 90s), one of the biggest problems that this Western Corridor has is that it does not fall within the plans of the European Union as far as the railway is concerned. The Trans-European Transport Network ignores this and maintains that hole already mentioned between Cáceres and Salamanca and Salamanca and the south of Asturias if it is not passing through Valladolid. Regardless of whether we are talking about a passenger or freight network, the result is the same. That is why from the Corredor Oeste platform, together with the city councils and the rest of the local organizations, They have been organizing mobilizations and meetings to press and get the project taken to Europe. According to his calculations, it would hardly be necessary to invest 1.9 billion eurosvery far from what is being invested in other corridors such as the Mediterranean, which already exceed 8,000 million in investment. They also defend that the new Silver Route railway would be key to connecting the Atlantic Corridor, which does have European approval, with the Spanish south, offering a … Read more

The oldest train line in Spain is still running 180 years later. And it moves 40 million passengers

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It is very likely that you have also done the exercise but I don’t know if the subject fascinates you as much as it does me. Have you ever thought about how far and how close we are from our great-grandparents and our great-great-grandparents? The City of Wonders by Eduardo Mendoza explains wonderfully how Barcelona became a technological centrifuge at the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. When Onofre Bouvila arrives in Barcelona, ​​the city is very different from the one in front of him when the book ends. A little before what the book tells, Barcelona had already begun to assimilate some technological advances that would be difficult for the average citizen to conceive. One of them was the railway. In 1848, the first train line on the Peninsula was inaugurated in Barcelona.. It’s Barcelona-Mataró. 30 kilometers in half an hour And, indeed, the Barcelona-Mataró is not the first Spanish train line but it is the first on the Iberian Peninsula. Actually, the first train line in Spain is the one known as Havana-Güines Since on November 19, 1837, the first service between these two towns was launched. The objective was to transport the sugar and honey that was produced in the first of these towns from Güines to the port of Havana. However, the first train on the Iberian Peninsula I would have to wait another decade. It was not until October 28, 1848 when the first train from Barcelona left towards Mataró surrounded by the music of the Artillery Corps and the curious who came to Doctor Aiguader Avenue. They explain in The Vanguard that the commotion was considerable to the south of the Parque de la Ciudadela and next to what is now the Estación de Francia, because the atmosphere vibrated with the excitement of witnessing a historical event in our country. The train had 24 cars and had capacity for 900 people. They had almost 30 kilometers ahead of them, which when the service was transformed into a regular line could be covered in 35 minutes without stops and an hour of travel if it stopped at intermediate stops, leaving far behind the five or six hours that had to be spent if traveling by stagecoach. The smoke, coal and soot did not deter those who, according to the Catalan newspaper, sneaked onto the train to be part of that first cap journey. Before, a few lucky They had already had the opportunity to travel between the two cities by train. And a few weeks before the big day, two rehearsals were carried out to check that everything was perfect and worked as it should. It was the result of the work of Miguel Biada. Miguel Biada i Buñol He was a merchant mariner who became a promoter of the first train line on peninsular soil. Although he was born in Mataró, he earned his living as a merchant in the Caribbean where, already in Havana, he had been part of the group of businessmen who promoted and carried out the first Spanish train line, the aforementioned Havana-Güines. Back in Spain, the businessman pushed to push ahead with that first train line that, according to some researchwas projected on the international gauge. These sources suggest that Madrid was required to opt for what It would later be known as Ancho Ibérico. A decision that condemned Spain to be isolated from the European railway network and that It still has its consequences today.. Finally, as we said, the first train line in mainland Spain started in 1848 and became a complete success. In the first year, 675,828 passengers boarded the train among whom, unfortunately, was not its promoter who had died that same year in April. Nor did the five people who, they say, have any good luck. The Vanguardwere run over and killed that first year. These deaths did not put a stop to the expansion plans. And the railway had come to stay in the Iberian Peninsula. It did so decades behind other European countries, but the expansion was so rapid that In 1866 Spain had already accumulated more than 5,000 kilometers of roads. Today, the Barcelona-Mataró has extended to the Massanet-Massanas station and is more than 70 kilometers long. Obviously, it is the first Rodalies line in Barcelona, ​​the one known as R1 that today starts from Molins de Rei and moves almost 40 million passengers a year. Photo | Illustration and photography collected on Wikimedia In Xataka | The Madrid Cercanías have become a nest of problems and delays: their solution is new “megatrains”

people who go to live in Valladolid and return to work by train

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For a simple work issue, for decades Many pucelanos had no choice but to pack their bags and move to Madrid. The companies are there. And good job prospects. Today things are different, as suggested the data of the Valladolid City Council. The expansion of teleworking and the improved communications It has allowed quite a few people to return to the Castilian-Leonese city without giving up their jobs in the capital and even turn the tables: Valladolid is the one that grows at the expense of Madrid. The data are certainly eloquent. What do the figures say? That for years the Castilian-Leonese city endured a clearly negative migratory balance with the capital. Many more people from Pucelanos went to Madrid than people from Madrid arrived to Valladolid. If you follow the historical series The census shows that this imbalance favorable to Madrid dates back to at least 1997, with years in which the difference was brutal. In 2014, for example, Valladolid recorded 736 casualties of Pucelanos who packed their bags to move to Madrid; The reverse route (from Valladolid to Madrid) was done by 305 people. And is it still like this? No. We know the change thanks to an analysis published in 2025 by The Confidentialwho has had access to the records of the Valladolid City Council. They show how between 2022 and 2023 the migratory balance between the cities of Valladolid and Madrid experienced a change: if in 2022 the Pucelana city registered 799 departures of residents bound for Madrid compared to 617 registrations in the opposite direction, in 2023 the “photo” was the opposite: 765 registrations and 566 cancellations. From the red numbers it went to a positive balance of 199 people. The trend was confirmed in 2024 with a new positive migration balance. That year, the Pucelano City Council recorded 796 new arrivals from Madrid compared to 504 new arrivals from residents who moved to the state capital. Again a positive balance, 292 people. In a matter of two years, Valladolid therefore went from dragging a historic deficit in population exchange with Madrid to “gaining” 491 new registered residents at the expense of its southern neighbor. This trend has coincided with the general growth of the Valladolid registry, which has been gaining population for several years and is now located at 303,843 inhabitants according to the municipal censusthat doesn’t always match with that of the INE. Is there more recent data? The last ones indicators published by the Statistical Institute of the Community of Madrid and the Junta of Castilla y León They are from 2024, but a quick Google search comes to find articles with testimonials recent of people who live in Valladolid and work in the capital. Even from other parts of Castilla y León even further away from Madrid. “Right now, whatever station you go to, Zamora, Salamanca, Segovia, Palencia or León, they are packed. Before you saw the train half empty,” explained a few weeks ago Carlos Perfecto, promoter of the Association of AVE Users in Castilla y León, told RTVE. “We are talking about the fact that between Valladolid and Segovia alone, 7,000 direct families go to work in Madrid every day.” Does it only affect cities? The “picture” can be completed with more brushstrokes that help understand the change. The change in the migratory flow has also been observed in the entire Madrid region, not only in its capital. After decades in the “red numbers” (in demographic terms), in 2023 Valladolid registered more registrations of new residents arriving from the Madrid community than registrations of Pucelanos who had moved to municipalities such as Móstoles, Alcalá, Leganés, Fuenlabrada, Getafe or Madrid itself. Between 2023 and 2024, in this sense, it accumulated a positive balance of 758 new registered. At the end of 2024 The North of Castile the change was already pointed out trend citing INE statistics, although in his article he handled data until 2023 and at the provincial level, not exclusively from the municipality of Valladolid. What did they show? Something similar to what is reflected in the register of the Pucelano City Council. In 2023, 1,785 people arrived in Valladolid from the Community of Madrid, while 1,270 people left the province to settle somewhere in Madrid. Result: 515 more people for the Valladolid census. Not bad if you take into account that the previous year (2022) the province had lost 115 people to the Community of Madrid. Last December The North of Castile updated analysis with provincial data from 2024 and verified that the trend continues. That year 1,744 people left the Community of Madrid to settle somewhere in Valladolid while 1,232 made the reverse move. Once again the figures favor the Castilian-Leonese demographic with a balance of 512 people. And what is the reason? Rather, we should talk about reasons, in the plural. When analyzing the change in trend, there are those who talk about the expansion of teleworking after the pandemic or the attractiveness of the Valladolid real estate market compared to that of Madrid, which makes buying a home much more acceptable there than in Madrid. According to Idealista, the m2 costs in Valladolid €2,029 while in Madrid it is located in 5,960. Something similar happens in the rental market: in the city of Pucelana, the m2 is rented to €9.7 in front of the 23.2 from Madrid. But… Why this abrupt change? Although it is true that COVID-19 marked a before and after in the implementation of teleworking in Spain and that the real estate market has not stopped tense In recent years, both trends do not fully explain why the population flow between Valladolid and Madrid has experienced such a sudden change in such a short time. Nor why it has become more pronounced in 2023. Hence, when looking for explanations, analyzes of the phenomenon add another determining factor: the improvement of transportation. At the end of 2007 the line was launched Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid high-speed train, which made it possible to get from … Read more

High-speed train coverage in Europe, in a revealing map

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Japan may already have carriages with noise cancellation, windows with 5G and his bullet train is a veteran and that China has the most futuristic trains and supersonic, but the network European high speed railway It represents one of the most advanced transportation infrastructures in the world. This system has transformed the continent’s mobility since 1981, when France laid the foundation inaugurating its first TGV line. Today, high-speed trains have a route of approximately 65,000 kilometers, transporting 2.5 billion passengers a year with 4,900 trains, according to data from the International Union of Railways (UIC). But since a picture is worth a thousand words, it is better to see them displayed on the map of the old continent. This map of Europe’s high-speed rail network is the fruit of the collaborative effort of several Wikimedia Commons users, who update it annually with new projects from from official UIC data. Of course, macro data is one thing and the reality of this train grid is another, because within the network there are huge differences between some areas and others. Even within the “high speed” classification itself. The map uses a color code based on the maximum operating speed allowed on each section, with black for non-high-speed lines: The lines in pink represent the maximum high speed category, 310-320 km/h. State-of-the-art infrastructure with wide curvature radii, controlled slopes and advanced signage. The red lines are the European speed standard: 270 to 300 km/h. The yellow and orange lines are for those trains that reach 200 to 260 km/h, generally on sections with topographical limitations. The dotted green lines correspond to roads under construction or updating, essential to glimpse the future evolution of the network. Europe by high speed train Broadly speaking, Western Europe concentrates the highest density of this infrastructure, especially highlighting the axis that connects Spain, France, Germany and Benelux, while Eastern Europe maintains significantly less development. High-speed lines operational in Europe in December 2025. Wikimedia Because as we move east on the map, the colored lines disappear and space out, evidencing a dramatic infrastructural gap: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and the Baltic countries practically lack operational high-speed infrastructure, depending on slow conventional lines that severely limit the competitiveness of the railway. And boy does it show: according to the Romanian Ministry of Transportthe Budapest-Bucharest high-speed project with a 590-kilometer line would reduce the current trip from more than 11 hours to approximately 3.5 hours. The project dates back to September 2024 and has an estimated budget of 17 billion euros. With 3,974 kilometers in service (September 2024 data) Spain holds a title: is the high-speed rail network largest in Europe and the second in the whole world, only surpassed by China. And as you can see on the map, it continues to grow. From a technical point of view and as is usual in the state, it has a radial model focused on Madrid. His constructive efficiency is remarkable: Spain has developed the second high-speed network in the world with one of the lowest construction costs per kilometer compared to the rest of the countries with this mode of transport and the lowest among the countries of the European Union. Among the most notable connections is the Eurostar, which connects Paris and London in approximately 2 hours and 16 minutes through the Channel Tunnel. It may not have as much fanfare as crossing a sea, but the Figueres-Perpignan line constitutes an essential 44.4 km link that connects the Spanish railway network with the French network and the rest of the European states, with a double-track section in UIC gauge. The main bottlenecks They are concentrated in mountainous border crossings and pending connections between national networks. Between Austria and Italy, the Brenner Base Tunnel is under construction to improve the Berlin-Palermo railway axis, connecting northern and southern Europe through the Alps. The Pyrenees are another critical point: although there is a Figueres-Perpignan connection, at the border crossing there is a single platform to concentrate everything. From an engineering point of view, the fundamental problem is the saturation of infrastructures that absorb mixed traffic of goods and people. In any case and although the EU since 2000 has invested large sums in high-speed railway infrastructure, faces a heterogeneous and fragmented scene insofar as it cannot force member states to build lines, which, together with the diversity of signaling systems, electrification and national technical standards, constitutes the true structural bottleneck of the European high-speed network. In Xataka | The countries with the most kilometers of high-speed train, displayed in a graph with a brutal dominator: China In Xataka | The big problem of the AVE that Japan has already solved: a bullet train with windows with 5G and noise cancellation to travel in peace Cover | Bernese media via Wikimedia

Renfe wants you to use a folding bike when you ride the train. For this, it has announced a subscription service from 41 euros

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Getting on a train with a scooter or one folding bike It is a situation that we see more and more in our country, especially in more crowded cities and in cases where the situation requires this convenient type of mobility. For this reason, Renfe wanted to take advantage launching a service in collaboration with the bicycle company Brompton, to promote the combo of using a bike and train on daily Cercanías journeys. The idea is to rent a folding bicycle for a monthly subscription and combine it with the train to cover the stretch between home, the station and the final destination, without the need for a car. The problem they want to solve. Using a bicycle to get to the train has the main drawback of needing secure parking for the bike, and of course many prefer to avoid what the stations offer due to the risk of theft. On the other hand, during rush hour, getting a conventional bike onto a crowded car is quite stressful, and anyone who has ever done it knows it perfectly well. A folding bicycle avoids this type of situation, and Renfe wants to take advantage of it. What is included and how much does it cost?. The subscription starts at 41 euros per month with a 12-month commitment, or 49 euros per month if you opt for six months. The package includes a Brompton C Line four-speed (intermediate handlebar), theft and damage insurance, a full annual service and home delivery within three to five working days. At the end of the period, the user can renew, return the bicycle or buy a new one at a discount. The brand also offers a bonus of 200 euros for the purchase of a new bike to those who decide to keep the model, according to they count from El Periódico. why now. Spain is the third market in which Brompton launches this subscription service, after Germany (where it premiered last year) and France, where it launched this same year. The landing in Spain makes sense: the Renfe Cercanías network is one of the densest in southern Europe and last kilometer routes without a practical solution are a widespread problem in large cities. The argument of sustainability. Renfe frame the initiative in its environmental strategy. The company claims to have reduced its emissions to 3.79 grams of CO₂ per transport unit in 2024, a figure that, according to the Spanish Climate Change Office, is up to 35 times lower than that of private cars. Replacing short car trips with bike plus train is, in this context, the natural complement to that narrative. For the end user it is a very convenient option, although in a context of fatigue due to the flood of subscriptions that many of us pay for, it can make a certain dent in the proposal. What remains to be seen. The proposal makes sense on paper, but there are some factors that must be resolved, including the number of bike racks at the stations, the reliability of the service and whether the price is attractive for those looking for an alternative and convenient type of mobility. Buying a Brompton usually means spending more than 1,000 euros, so we will have to see if the economic argument convinces enough travelers for this business model to be successful. Cover image | Renfe In Xataka | Renfe has launched a real-time map to know where your surroundings are in 2025. And it works quite well

We thought that the price of World Cup tickets in the US was going to be the biggest nonsense. Wait to travel by train

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The World Cup is a universal spectacle, but its prices during the tournament that will be held this summer in North America (United States, Mexico and Canada) will not exactly be within reach of all budgets. Especially if you want to enjoy the final, which will be played July 19 in it MetLife Stadium from New Jersey. And not just because their tickets are sold at exorbitant prices. The region’s public transportation operator has revealed that round-trip tickets between Manhattan and MetLife will cost 150 dollars. That decision has already generated a intense controversy. What has happened? That the celebration of the World Cup in the US is being marred by the enormous cost what it will mean for the fans. Until now we knew that those privileged who want to follow the matches directly in the stadiums will have to pay stratospheric sums for the tickets, especially if we talk about the final which will be played at the end of July at MetLife Stadium. That was relatively predictable. Now we know something else: even tickets to go to the stadium on public transport will be priced at the price of gold. Are they that expensive? Yes. A week ago The New York Times has already advanced that round-trip tickets to MetLife from New York’s Pennsylvania Station would cost more than $100, although the public transportation operator, New York Transit (NJT), was reluctant to confirm the information. The mystery did not last long. On Friday, when announcing the mobility plan for the World Cup, the company revealed (almost in passing) that the filtration of Times had fallen short. “Non-transferable, non-refundable, round-trip train tickets will be on sale exclusively to ticket holders on May 13 through NJ Transit for $150,” keep it up the operator when informing of the transportation services that will connect MetLife Stadium, renamed temporarily as New York New Jersey Stadium to conform to FIFA’s sponsorship policy. In the same statement NJT explains that round-trip bus tickets (also non-transferable and non-refundable) will be sold for $80. Is it more expensive than normal? A lot more. NBC News I remembered These days a round-trip ticket to MetLife Stadium usually costs $12.9, so the fare that those who want to use the train on the day of the final will have to pay will be 11 times higher than normal. The price will be very superior This is what fans who travel between Penn Station (New York) and MetLife pay to enjoy NFL Jets or Giants games. Although the price of bus tickets will also quadruple in Boston, where they will be disputed four gamesthere has been international competitions in which fans with tickets could freely use public transport. In the case of the USA, The Wall Street Journal remember that the original 2018 pact between host cities and FIFA included free transportation, but the requirement was relaxed a few years ago. Now fans must pay $150 for a trip that is covered in less than half an hour by car. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Has it generated controversy? Yes. Because of the amount itself (150), but also because the NJT plan does not contemplate Reduced rates, which means that children and seniors will have to pay the same amount as everyone else. It is important because MetLife Stadium will host a total of eight games of the World Cup in which the teams of Brazil, France, Germany and England (among others) will compete. Among those events also includes the most significant of all: the final. Those who want to skip the train or bus and go by car to MetLife will not have it easy either. The celebration of the World Cup will cut considerably the availability of parking in the area, which explains, among other things, that passes are being offered to park in the parking lot of a shopping center in the area for $225, such as has revealed NCB News. Why does it go up so much? That question connects directly with the political debate that has broken out in New Jersey around the World Cup, its costs for the public coffers and the return it will have for the region. Governor Mikie Sherrill (Democratic Party) assures having “inherited” an agreement by which FIFA “does not contribute a single dollar” for transportation and warned that NJ Transit will be forced to pay “a bill of 48 million dollars” to mobilize the tens of thousands of fans who will come to watch the games. MetLife Stadium seats more than 80,000 spectators and Sherrill’s message, just like the one NJT has transferred to the New York Times is clear: “The cost of the eight matches will not be borne by our regular users of public transport.” That is to say, the first step is for the fans (if not FIFA itself) to pay for the transportation required by the competition. Sherrill’s position has caused tensions with the federation, which warns of “deterrent” effect What will the train fares have and remember that MetLife has hosted other macro events without the organizers having to pay for transportation. During the debate, there was also talk of the income that FIFA will receive thanks to the tournament and the return for the USA. Is it just transportation? The truth is that no. The transport controversy is added to another that already goes back a long way: that of the price of tickets to enjoy the World Cup matches. A few weeks ago, FIFA already made headlines because tickets for the final were selling for up to $10,990. Not only are they astronomical figures that threaten to become “the most expensive in history”, as warns the BBC. They also far exceed those of a few months ago. In March, after the president of FIFA recognize that prices could “go up or down according to demand,” the OCU denounced the use of “dynamic pricing”. The rates already they have put on guard to Euroconsumers. Images | … Read more

is renovating its bullet train with 5G-enabled windows and noise-cancelling cabins

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High-speed rail is going through a phase of maturity where the differential is no longer so much speed, but rather productivity and comfort. In short: it wants to become a fully fledged alternative to flying in the business segment. While Spain is consolidated as the second country in the world in high-speed network and leader in technological interoperability, Japan (which was a pioneer with the Shinkansen in 1964) wants to regain its hegemony with deep digitalization. JR Central, the rail operator of the Tokaido Shinkansen, has announced which will equip the next premium suites of its famous bullet trains with windows with integrated 5G antennas and active ambient noise cancellation without the need for headphones. The news. The improvements are not cosmetic, but a serious commitment to transform the premium car into a work or rest environment comparable to a private office. 5G antennas on the glass. The technology is provided by AGCa Japanese company that weaves conductive microfibers into the glass to form an antenna that is connected to the on-board Wi-Fi router. While conventional systems bounce the 5G signal inside the train before reaching the router, antennas integrated into the glass keep direct line of sight with outside base stations. That is, a more stable Wi-Fi with a stronger signal. Integrated ANC. The system is called Personalized Sound Zone (PSZ) and has been developed by NTT. Its operation is like that of headphones with active cancellation: it detects the waveform of the ambient sound and from there, projects its inversion to cancel it. The main difference is that you don’t need to cover your ear: it uses a combination of microphones, speakers and spatially optimized low-latency processing. Why is it important. JR Central’s bullet train reaches speeds of up to 285 km/h, meaning it passes mobile network base stations so quickly that it often needs to reconnect to another radio. This phenomenon is known as handover and degrades the quality of the connection: it is the Achilles heel of connectivity in high-speed trains around the world. Yes, those internet outages also happen on the AVE. Finding a solution in windows is technically elegant and scalable. From the point of view of the premium segment, the robust connectivity and acoustic isolation without headphones places it in direct competition with the business class flight on routes within the country. Of course, in the absence of the price. For now, JR Central has only confirmed which will be more expensive than tickets for first-class Shinkansen Green Car seats, which already cost 40% more than a standard unreserved ticket. An example: standard ticket from Tokyo station to Kyoto (2 hours and 15 minutes) costs 13,320 yen and 18,840 yen for the Green Car, that is, 71 and 100 euros respectively. Context. The Tokaido Shinkansen is the busiest high-speed line in the world. Private compartments disappeared from the line in 2003 with the withdrawal of the Series 100 double-decker trains, which included private cabins. This new initiative means the return to the format in style two decades later. Regarding glass antenna technology, the collaboration between AGC, NTT Docomo and Ericsson has been going on since 2018. In fact, in 2019 this conglomerate of companies reached the world’s first 5G communication using an integrated fused silica glass antenna to transmit and receive 28 GHz signals, with average download speeds of 1.3 Gbps and maximum download speeds of 3.8 Gbps in a range of 100 meters. What JR Central is now announcing is the first commercial application in high-speed trains. And in Spain? In connectivity, there is a technological and approach gap. The AVE has Wi-Fi since December 2016 thanks to a system of outdoor 4G-LTE antennas combined with satellite, routers, servers and access points. That is, like what JR Central has just overcome: capturing the signal from outside and redistributing it inside. AGC’s solution for the Shinkansen eliminates this weak point by maintaining direct line of sight with the base stations, something especially critical at high speed. Of course, while PlayRenfe is universal for all travelers, the Shinkansen Wi-Fi will be in the luxury suites. Yes, but. The deployment is very limited: in the initial phase only a couple of suites will be installed in six trains, so coverage is residual against the park of operational units total and JR Central has not made public a roadmap for the expansion of these technologies. On the other hand, NTT’s noise cancellation technology applied to a train poses its own structural challenges, ranging from noise variations at 285 km/h to pressure changes in tunnels. It will be necessary to check the real effectiveness of the system under these conditions. In Xataka | There was a day when Japan was the leading high-speed country. It has been surpassed by China, a victim of its own country In Xataka | In 2015, Japan showed the world a train capable of reaching 600 km/h. Ten years later we still don’t know anything about him Cover | Fikri Rasyid

I spent 8 hours a day watching porn to train the AI. Today he leads the workers union that fights against that

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Spend a workday tagging porn there’s nothing fun about it. Content moderators They have been denouncing terrible working conditions for years and now The same thing is happening with data labeling to train AI. In 404media They tell the story of Michael Geoffrey, a Kenyan who spent months working for two AI companies, until they completely destroyed his mental health. The jobs. Michael stayed in front of his computer for eight hours watching porn, describing what was happening in the images in great detail. It was no affiliation, but rather he worked for a data labeling company that then used all those descriptions to train AI models. When the day was over, his second job awaited him at a sexual AI chatbot company. In this job, Michael had to maintain sexual conversations with users, adopting whatever role was necessary each time; I had to pretend to be a man, a woman, straight, homosexual… and of course adapt to the context in each conversation. Behind the AI. Although they have the last name IA, in reality These sexbots have a lot of human work behind them. That is, when someone talks to their girlfriend or boyfriend AIyou may be talking to a real person. Michael wrote his testimony and said that he had to fake intimate connections with anonymous users. Their interactions were then used to train the AI. In the case of data labeling, workers are exposed to all types of content, some extremely violent. For example, for AI to be able to detect content of sexual abuse and violence, these workers must see thousands of images of abuse and extreme violence, and all for ridiculous salaries. In a Time reportthey said that one of these companies paid between 1.3 and 2 dollars net per hour. The consequences. After several months on the job, Michael suffered from insomnia, stress and began to have problems having sexual relations. He tells 404media that “there came a point where my body no longer responded. When I saw someone naked, I didn’t even feel anything.” Endless hours, exposure to very unpleasant content and very low salaries. Some claim that it is like a form of modern slavery. The companies behind. One of them is Sama, a San Francisco-based company that defines itself as “the perfect example of ethical AI.” It’s the company that paid 2 dollars an hour. Another company that has also been at the center of the controversy is Remotasks, a Scale AI subsidiaryone of the largest labeling companies. It was founded by Alexandr Wang, current head of AI at Meta. By Remotasks it is said that he pays late and often not the amount that was originally promised. These and other similar companies They are outsourced by OpenAIGoogle, Meta and more to train your AI models. The workers organize. Currently, Michael is the secretary of the Data Labelers Association of Kenyaan organization that wants to give voice and make visible the work of these underpaid and invisible workers. Other organizations have also been created such as African Content Moderators and Tech Workers who demand better working conditions and resources to care for the mental health of workers. In Xataka | People Blaming ChatGPT for Causing Delusions and Suicides: What’s Really Happening with AI and Mental Health Image | Data Labelers Association

How to know where any Renfe train is in Spain in real time, and know if it has any delays

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Let’s tell you how to know where any Renfe train is high speed, or long and medium distance. You will be able to do this with a website created by Renfe itself, where you can see all the Spanish railway traffic in real time. This is a particularly useful website when you want know where a specific train isso you can know the estimated time of arrival and if there are any delays. That’s why we are going to teach you how to use it. Watch Renfe trains in real time The first thing you have to know is that the website only monitors high-speed trains, or long and medium distance trains. This means that you will not find the Cercaníasbut the rest of the trains do, from the regional ones to the Euromed or the Ave. You can see them in motionand thus know where they are or if they have stopped. To access this website you have to go to the address real-time.longdistance.renfe.com. Inside you will see a map, where you will be able to see the railway network from all over the country, and zoom and navigate to see the area you want. When you zoom in you will be able to see the trains with different colors in the position they are in at all times. If you click on a train you will see all its information in a pop-up window. You will see your previous stop and next stop, your route and your identification number. You will also see the type of train it is and, most importantly, the expected time of your arrival. Next to this scheduled time you will see the time variation, which will show you the minutes of delay that the train is in, and the minutes of anticipation with respect to its initially scheduled arrival. You can also search for trains by their identification number. This way, if a family member is traveling to see you and gives you their train number, you will be able to monitor it in real time. When you search for a train, a column will also open on the right where you will see all its stops. In Xataka Basics | How to know if your train has canceled: where to look on Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo

Meta’s glasses record everything we see. Some gentlemen in Kenya are also looking at it to train AI

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Meta is competing in two races. On the one hand, that of the artificial intelligence. On the other hand, finding the “new smartphone.” In this sense, your total bet is on glasses with AI. Devices like Ray-Ban Meta 2 They have the potential to record everything we see. And within that “everything” is getting naked in a fitting room, having sexual relations or entering the bank password into our cell phone. And someone in Kenya is watching all of this with one goal: training artificial intelligence. In short. Before we delve deeper, let’s get the context. The Swedish media Svenska Dagbladet has published a report in which they explain how Meta’s artificial intelligence is being trained. At least, to the AI ​​that gives life to your smart glasses. For this training, Meta collects our data such as conversations, photos and videos, which are sent in massive packets to companies that break them down and then ‘shot’ the information into the training software. One of those companies is Sama. It is located in Kenya and some of its employees have revealed to Swedish journalists what type of information they see every day, recounting some cases that are still everyday actions that we all do. The problem is that we do them in privacy. That said, we are going little by little because there is a lot. Ray-Ban Meta. The glasses need no introduction and, in fact, we tested the second generation a few weeks ago. In our analysis of the Ray-Ban Meta 2 We already said that they were part of that post-smartphone vision thanks to a very decent camera and sound, but with disappointing AI. That is precisely the point on which Meta had to work more and it does so thanks to the images it collects from each user. What we give up. In the investigation of the Swedish environment, and it is something that we can see in the terms of use of Meta AI services, details a situation where it appears that we have significant control over data such as images or voice recordings. The document notes that certain data can be saved and used to improve Meta products if the user gives their consent, but there is a side B: for the AI ​​assistant to work, voice, text, image and video must be provided. According to these conditions, “in some cases, Meta will review interactions with the AI, including the content of conversations or messages to the AI. This review may be automated or manual.” In addition, it is also established that the user should not share information that they do not want the AI ​​to use or retain, such as “information on sensitive topics.” The problem is that, if you do not accept, you cannot use Meta AI. Training AI manually. When the data review is manual, that is when the problem begins. The article states that one of the analysis centers is located in Kenya. It is called Sama and it is a company hired by Meta to carry out a task known as “labeling.” The data leaving the device goes through a cleaning process that blurs faces and private data, but then workers perform some manual actions on the images. An example of labeling For example, selecting outlines of people, naming objects such as “lamp”, “car”, “book”, “computer”, registering traffic signs and, in short, everything we see. Then all that correctly labeled is organized into data packets that are ‘launched’ to the artificial intelligence training systems. Because if an AI “knows” that a ‘STOP’ sign is a ‘STOP’ sign, it is because it has been taught before with real images. The goal is to improve, precisely, what we criticized in our analysis: artificial intelligence and its connection with the world. When the system fails. For the analysis, they have contacted former Meta employees in labeling centers in the United States. They assure that the system automatically anonymizes faces and sensitive data, but “the algorithms sometimes get lost. Especially in difficult lighting conditions, certain faces and bodies are perfectly visible.” And that’s where the problem begins. The workers at the labeling center that has been put under the microscope are not there watching what I will detail below for pleasure or voyeurism, but because they are labeling to train the AI. The problem is… what you supposedly see in the images. nothing is private. An employee at the Kenyan data center explains that “in some videos you can see someone going to the bathroom or taking off their clothes. I don’t think they know, because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t record.” But going to the bathroom is not the only thing they have seen at that labeling center. Everyday scenes in a Western room followed by others in which sexual relations take place. Recording another person naked by mistake (when your partner gets out of the shower, for example), or leaving your glasses on a surface in the room to record how your wife changes without her knowing. Transcripts about protests, “very dark things” crimes or topics such as the description of a woman by a man who argues that he would like to have relations with her are also analyzed. “We see everything and Meta has that type of content in its database. People can record themselves in the wrong way and not know they are doing it,” says one of the workers who assures that, if the clips are leaked, it would be a “huge scandal.” “I think that if they knew the extent of the data collection, no one would dare to wear the glasses” What if I don’t record? Svenska Dagbladet has not done this report for two days. They point out that they have been working on the information for months, meeting with the parties and asking both the opticians where the glasses can be purchased and Meta itself. Regarding retailers, they claim that they have no idea where the data goes. Others point out that “everything is … Read more

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