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Berlin announces plans for a sustainable magnetic levitation train. How will it work?

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Berlin has announced plans for a sustainable ‘maglev’ train. Here’s how it will work.

Berlin is getting ready to welcome a futuristic ‘magnetic levitation train’.

The German capital plans to build a five-to-seven kilometre test track for the green transportation project, investing €80 million from a special climate fund.

The location of the monorail is yet to be decided but the city plans to build it in a place where it can be utilised following the testing phase.

Quicker and cheaper to build than a subway line, the driverless magnetic levitation – or ‘maglev’ – train could make its debut within two years.

It is hoped it will reduce car traffic and emissions in Berlin.

How would Berlin’s ‘magrail’ train work?

A step in the direction of the even more futuristic Hyperloop, magrail systems are based on magnetic levitation technology. This uses magnets to elevate a train off the track and another set of magnets to propel it along.

This removes the friction of the train touching the track, which increases speed and reduces noise.

Elsewhere in Europe, Polish company Nevomo has teamed up with Italian railway infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana to develop maglev technology that it hopes can be added to existing railway tracks.

If applied to high speed lines, Nevomo says it would be capable of doubling the top speeds of a French TGV train to 550 km/h.

German Transrapid technology, which consists of a high-speed monorail using magnetic levitation, is already in use in Shanghai, China. Opened in 2004, it now reaches speeds of 300 km/h. South Korea and Japan also have maglev trains.

Is this Berlin’s first magnetic rail?

The new maglev train is not Berlin’s first foray into magnetic rail. Operated experimentally in 1984 and for passengers between 1989 to 1991, the M-Bahn or Magnetbahn covered a 1.6 km line with three stops.

It was built in West Berlin to bridge a public transport gap created by the Berlin Wall. After the wall fell, the line became obsolete and was taken down to allow for the expansion of the underground.

Plans for the latest maglev train were announced by Dirk Stettner of the CDU parliamentary group, which governs Berlin in coalition with the SPD party.

The city aims to become climate neutral by 2045. It is unclear when maglev construction will begin.

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  • Daniela Daecher

    Daniela Daecher is a twenty-something bookworm and coffee addict with a passion for geeking out over sci fi, tv, movies, and books. In 2013 she completed her BA in English with a specialization in Linguistics. In 2014 she completed her MA in Linguistics, focusing on the relationship between language and communication in written form. She currently lives in Munich, Germany.

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Budget sightseeing: The most scenic bus routes in Britain for less than €3

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The discount fares can be purchased this week, until 21 April, on journeys up until 12 May.

If you fancy seeing some of Britain’s top sights on the cheap, this is the month to book some leave.

Travel tech company FlixBus is celebrating its 3rd anniversary in the UK by offering £2 (€2.34) tickets for coach services across England, Scotland and Wales.

The discount fares can be purchased this week, until 21 April, on journeys up until 12 May.

This year, FlixBus added connections to the city of Inverness as part of its Scottish Network, which will be included in the deal.

The company says it aims to make coach travel “as sustainable and affordable as possible”.

It recently launched an electric, long-distance, zero-emission route between Newport, Bristol and London.

Here are five of the best journeys available on the £2 offer.

Escape to the Scottish Highlands

Visitors seeking bracing air and epic scenery can take a four-hour bus from Glasgow to Inverness, stopping on the way in Perth.

The city of Inverness is considered the gateway to the Scottish Highlands.

From here, you can strike out into the countryside and lose yourself in heather-carpeted glens and granite mountains.

Journey back in time to the historic city of York

This route takes travellers from the city of Manchester to the historic heart of York in northern England. The journey takes two hours and 40 minutes, stopping at Bradford and Leeds on the way.

York is one of the UK’s cultural hotspots, home to the UNESCO-designated York Minster, a Gothic behemoth from the 13th century with medieval stained glass windows.

If it’s a sunny day, take a walk around the city walls – a reminder of York’s Roman past.

Harry Potter fans should leave time to stroll down the Shambles, a street of charmingly crooked half-timbered houses that bely its macabre past as a slaughterhouse.

Visit the vibrant city of Manchester

This route travels between the city of Birmingham and the city of Manchester passing through Stoke On Trent and stopping at Manchester Airport.

The two-hour and 45-minute trip gives travellers access to one of the UK’s trending tourist destinations.

Once the hub of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester is now home to a buzzing music scene, warehouses transformed into popups and co-working spaces and the unmissable Gay Village along Canal Street.

Chill out in the Cairngorms National Park

A three-hour bus from Glasgow takes travellers through the attractive Scottish towns of Perth and Pitlochry to Aviemore in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park.

Nature lovers will find ancient forests, secluded lochs and a funicular whisking you up to sublime valley views.

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  • Daniela Daecher

    Daniela Daecher is a twenty-something bookworm and coffee addict with a passion for geeking out over sci fi, tv, movies, and books. In 2013 she completed her BA in English with a specialization in Linguistics. In 2014 she completed her MA in Linguistics, focusing on the relationship between language and communication in written form. She currently lives in Munich, Germany.

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‘An excess of tourism’: Lake Como to introduce daytripper fee to curb visitor numbers

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This Italian lakeside city wants to impose a daily visitor fee.

Lake Como is glitzy, glamorous and engulfed by tourism.

The third largest lake in Italy, it sees as many as 1.4 million visitors a year descend on its shores.

The tourist numbers are proving overwhelming for the holiday hotspot in northern Italy, and one city is now considering introducing a tourist tax.

Mayor of the lakeside city of Como Alessandro Rapinese says he is mulling a Venice-style daily charge with suggestions that it could come into force soon.

Lake Como to introduce a daytripper fee

Rapinese has lambasted Lake Como’s overtourism saying it is “difficult to be mayor when you are fighting tourism”.

“We are already discussing the idea[ofa[ofatourist tax]. Revolutions begin with concrete measures and we are ready for this long journey,” he told UK newspaper The Times.

The fee would apply to daily visitors to the city of Como.

The mayor has not shared any further details about how much the fee will be, who will have to pay and when it will come into force.

If he uses the Venice model, the charge will apply to daytrippers (not those who have booked overnight accommodation in the city) and may be levied only on busy days like weekends and public holidays.

Lake Como battles overtourism

The chic lake has been struggling with soaring tourist numbers in recent years.

Crowds have boomed since several celebrities including George Clooney purchased multi-million euro properties along the shoreline and the lake provided a backdrop for films including Casino Royale and House of Gucci.

“I visited Lake Como last year and said I would never go back. Standards had dropped. Restaurants were disappointing in quality and price. Too many people to enjoy anything about the resort,” one visitor wrote on X.

Last summer, one lakeside villa which appeared in James Bond and Star Wars films was forced to limit visitor numbers.

Villa del Balbianello cut daily entries from 2,000 to a maximum of 1,200 to protect the historic house.

The Italian Fund for the Environment (FAI), which runs the property, called it “a drastic decision” but essential to counter the effect of “an excess of tourism that has an ever greater impact on Lake Como”.

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  • Daniela Daecher

    Daniela Daecher is a twenty-something bookworm and coffee addict with a passion for geeking out over sci fi, tv, movies, and books. In 2013 she completed her BA in English with a specialization in Linguistics. In 2014 she completed her MA in Linguistics, focusing on the relationship between language and communication in written form. She currently lives in Munich, Germany.

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Istanbul, Dalaman, Izmir: Where to go with Türkiye’s new digital nomad visa

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Applicants are accepted from most EU countries as well as the UK, USA and Canada.

Türkiye has become the latest country to launch a digital nomad visa for foreign remote workers.

The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry has created a dedicated website where those interested can complete the first application stages.

The country hopes to lure digital nomads to destinations including Istanbul, Dalaman on the southwestern coast and Izmir on the west.

“Thousand years old ancient cities, unique bays hidden between forests, turquoise seas, dynamic people, big cities; Türkiye has all,” the visa promotion reads.

“In addition, this beautiful country is one of the biggest countries of the world in terms of economy and business, with strong infrastructure services.”

Who is eligible for Türkiye’s digital nomad visa?

Those interested in Türkiye’s digital nomad visa need to be aged between 21 and 55. Applicants are accepted from most EU countries as well as the UK, USA and Canada.

Additional prerequisites include holding a university degree, having an employment or business contract and being able to prove a monthly income of $3,000 (€2,800) or an annual one of $36,000 (€33,800).

Applicants can register and upload their documents – including a passport with six-month validity and a photo – on the dedicated Digital Nomad GoTürkiye website.

If the application is accepted, you will be issued a Digital Nomad Identification Certificate which you can then take to a Turkish visa centre or consulate in your place of residence.

The best locations for digital nomads in Türkiye

The digital nomad website also promotes destinations around the country as prime spots for remote workers.

Istanbul is “a business centre with large companies and small start-ups, a metropole of 20 million inhabitants, a meeting point of different cultures [and] a historical centre where the paths of millennia-old civilisations converge.”

Digital nomads will find a strong transportation infrastructure with several metro and bus lines, and ferry journeys between its European and Asian sides, according to the website. It also says it is easy to find fully furnished apartments to rent.

Dalaman, on the Aegean coast, “offers great transportation options, an easy escape from the crowds, an impressive variety of free-time activities, and a strong infrastructure for those who want to work from this paradise on Earth.”

Izmir, also on the Aegean Sea, is ideal for those seeking year-round warmth and Blue Flag beaches.

Author

  • Daniela Daecher

    Daniela Daecher is a twenty-something bookworm and coffee addict with a passion for geeking out over sci fi, tv, movies, and books. In 2013 she completed her BA in English with a specialization in Linguistics. In 2014 she completed her MA in Linguistics, focusing on the relationship between language and communication in written form. She currently lives in Munich, Germany.

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