A consortium made by Alstom and Bombardier will design and manufacture this “next generation” rolling stock named MPM-10.

From December 2010 to January 6, 2011, over 30,000 people indicated their preference regarding the exterior look of the Montréal métro’s next generation of railcars from the three options presented. The one with a metallic finish at the front gradually turning to blue was the big winner: one out of every two people chose it, while the other two options barely received one vote out of every four.
The comments voiced by the public were also quite clear. And the ones expressed most often – “wow”, “super”, “looks great” – are a reflection of the wave of enthusiasm generated by the winning design. [more]

Another video (in French), here:

Featuring an efficient soul, both in terms of energy consumption and maintenance costs (but this is a never clear benchmarked assumption of almost all rolling stock builders), it is recyclable up to 97,5% of its components.

Of course, the most visible mark of this visionary concept is its exterior design, somehow Tron-inspired, as suggested by dvice.
More information about Inspiro at Siemens dedicated pages and brochure (PDF).

Around the Loop from Tyler Freedman on Vimeo.

Around the Loop: a video by Tyler Freedman from a Rocket cab on the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) line Yonge-University-Spadina.

A high-speed journey aboard a TTC train, as it travels from Downsview Station (NW terminus) to Finch Station (NE terminus), in the wee hours of the morn, on Toronto’s Yonge-University-Spadina line.

Thanks to the driver of the train, who didn’t seem to mind as I taped a cardboard box with a camera in it to the emergency exit.

Music by Metamorphosis Jazz Band, on the album 逆転裁判 ジャズアルバム ～GYAKUTEN MEETS JAZZ SOUL～.

Shot on a Canon HG10, at 1080/60i. Edited with Adobe Premiere and After Effects.

[via InsideTrainsit]

Some of the theses exposed in its posts goes sometimes towards the necessity of shifting to railway and high speed in particular. Therefore I consider this blog as a second, different point of view on rail questions (and not only) and I appreciate that because it let me think. Its last post considers trolleybuses (but there’s also a reference to trolleytrucks) as a low cost alternative to LRV (Light Rail Vehicles) in the cities due to the lower costs derived from converting a fleet of motor buses into electrical ones with the only infrastructure investment of a catenary. Moreover some benefits come from the lower maintenance costs and energy savings. This system inherits the benefits of a not track guided transport together with the flexibility of an energy source such as electricity that can be stored, regenerated and applied to electric motors. Nevertheless rubber tyres make the system less noisy.

As a matter of fact if we need more capacity the choice should advantage LRV, the article anyhow represents a way to discuss about a valid alternative to urban  transit combustion engines solutions.