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Omni-Shambles On Rails !
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Just a few months after the Government announced this ambitious modernisation of our national railway structure, its now being delayed and/or cut back. It was announced before the Election, although they must have known it was too ambitious then.
This stinks of making misleading claims and promises in the run-up to the Election to me.
Just a few months after the Government announced this ambitious modernisation of our national railway structure, its now being delayed and/or cut back. It was announced before the Election, although they must have known it was too ambitious then.
This stinks of making misleading claims and promises in the run-up to the Election to me.
Answers
“…making misleading claims and promises in the run-up to the Election” What an outrageous accusation! Wash your mouth out, Mikey :-) “It's similar to the way Eurostar can't travel on BR track. “ That’s not quite correct, marshwarble. When Eurostar services were first introduced in 1993 the only “new build” this side of the Channel to...
19:08 Thu 25th Jun 2015
QM....my best guess is that it isn't !
This is a promise that the Government made, that has every appearance of being broken. If they had said, in the run-up to the Election, that rail investment was going to be cut or stopped altogether, perhaps the Tories wouldn't have won so many seat Oop-North ?
We shall never know for sure of course !
This is a promise that the Government made, that has every appearance of being broken. If they had said, in the run-up to the Election, that rail investment was going to be cut or stopped altogether, perhaps the Tories wouldn't have won so many seat Oop-North ?
We shall never know for sure of course !
I doubt anyone agrees 100% with the party they mainly support. When it comes to rail I think Omnishambles is the correct term, I also thing that Beeching was a vandal. I think things like rail need to be a national subsidised transport policy and I have happy to support that principle even though I am mostly a Tory.
TTT...I am glad to hear it, and I am only pulling your leg !
Of course, you are right. Most people would agree with you....our national rail structure should never have been broken up and sold off into tiny packages.
Which is why todays announcement has brought back British Rail in all but name.
I remember all the huge wastage of money when BR was hived off...all the new coats of paint, new signs, new uniforms, etc. All completely unnecessary.
At least the executive Directors of Network Rail won't be getting a bonus this year. Less pigs snouts in troughs is what is needed here.
Of course, you are right. Most people would agree with you....our national rail structure should never have been broken up and sold off into tiny packages.
Which is why todays announcement has brought back British Rail in all but name.
I remember all the huge wastage of money when BR was hived off...all the new coats of paint, new signs, new uniforms, etc. All completely unnecessary.
At least the executive Directors of Network Rail won't be getting a bonus this year. Less pigs snouts in troughs is what is needed here.
It effectively is nationalised.
Network rail is a not for profit company with one shareholder - the Government.
Conservative Party Manifesto May 2015:
// We will invest £38 billion in our railway network in the five years to 2019. Electrification of the railways is a key part of our investment programme, with work already underway across the North, the Midlands, and South Wales; there
are plans to go further in the rest of the country, including East Anglia and the South West� In addition to rolling out our national high-speed rail network, with High Speed 2 and High Speed 3, we will complete the construction of the new east-west Crossrail across Greater London, and push forward with plans for Crossrail 2, a new rail route running through London... //
It didn't take long for that election promise to hit the buffers.
Network rail is a not for profit company with one shareholder - the Government.
Conservative Party Manifesto May 2015:
// We will invest £38 billion in our railway network in the five years to 2019. Electrification of the railways is a key part of our investment programme, with work already underway across the North, the Midlands, and South Wales; there
are plans to go further in the rest of the country, including East Anglia and the South West� In addition to rolling out our national high-speed rail network, with High Speed 2 and High Speed 3, we will complete the construction of the new east-west Crossrail across Greater London, and push forward with plans for Crossrail 2, a new rail route running through London... //
It didn't take long for that election promise to hit the buffers.
Its as I thought then Gromit...sounds very duplicitous to me, so soon after the Election !
No word here, by the way, about the ruddy HS2 !
I am still undecided about the merits of HS2. It is said that it will make the journey from London to Brum 20 mins quicker. Considering the eye-watering cost of HS2, it might be cheaper to move Brum 20 mins further south. I am guessing that the second stage of HS2, from the West Midlands to Leeds and Manchester, will now never get built, at least not in my lifetime.
Lets not forget that 10,000's of jobs are now at risk, now that the Government is shifting from foot to foot like a nervous bridegroom.
No word here, by the way, about the ruddy HS2 !
I am still undecided about the merits of HS2. It is said that it will make the journey from London to Brum 20 mins quicker. Considering the eye-watering cost of HS2, it might be cheaper to move Brum 20 mins further south. I am guessing that the second stage of HS2, from the West Midlands to Leeds and Manchester, will now never get built, at least not in my lifetime.
Lets not forget that 10,000's of jobs are now at risk, now that the Government is shifting from foot to foot like a nervous bridegroom.
// did I miss something gromit? //
Yep.
The plan wasn't properly costed and the Government was warned last year that everything it said it would do could not be done for £38billion. Of the three main improvemnt projects announced last year, two have today been shelved, the Trans-Pennine: York-Manchester, and the Midland Mainline: York-Sheffield. It is inconceivable that they have only just realised they cannot afford EVERYTHING they promised. When they pledged in the election manifesto to invest in railways in the North, they must have known that a it would be axed soon after the votes had been counted.
Yep.
The plan wasn't properly costed and the Government was warned last year that everything it said it would do could not be done for £38billion. Of the three main improvemnt projects announced last year, two have today been shelved, the Trans-Pennine: York-Manchester, and the Midland Mainline: York-Sheffield. It is inconceivable that they have only just realised they cannot afford EVERYTHING they promised. When they pledged in the election manifesto to invest in railways in the North, they must have known that a it would be axed soon after the votes had been counted.
Ron.....I am no railway expert, and I expect there is someone else on here that can give you a fuller answer, but ...........
The tracks already in place just cannot provide a safe and fast journey, for these new high speed trains. They are too twisty, for one. BR did try to run high speed trains in the past, the so-called Tilting Train or Advanced Passenger Train but it was a technical failure....nobody wanted their tea or coffee swaying about at 152 mph, and the plans were abandoned. You an still see the APT in York.
So a completely new track is required, at huge cost.
I have only travelled on the HST on the Eurostar and it is a very impressive journey. very smooth and very quick.
When I first lived in Swansea, in the late 60's, it used to take over 4 hours to get to Paddington, on the old trains. The same journey now takes less than 3 hours, in the Inter-City 125, a great improvement ! Its a great train as well...smooth and not bumpy at all.
The tracks already in place just cannot provide a safe and fast journey, for these new high speed trains. They are too twisty, for one. BR did try to run high speed trains in the past, the so-called Tilting Train or Advanced Passenger Train but it was a technical failure....nobody wanted their tea or coffee swaying about at 152 mph, and the plans were abandoned. You an still see the APT in York.
So a completely new track is required, at huge cost.
I have only travelled on the HST on the Eurostar and it is a very impressive journey. very smooth and very quick.
When I first lived in Swansea, in the late 60's, it used to take over 4 hours to get to Paddington, on the old trains. The same journey now takes less than 3 hours, in the Inter-City 125, a great improvement ! Its a great train as well...smooth and not bumpy at all.
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