Rail improvements on hold

[scorza]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33270586

Surprised there hasn't been a thread on this already. So for all the talk of a 'Northern Powerhouse', the two rail improvement schemes that would have affected the North* have been shelved, while the Great Western Line scheme, which services London, is saved. Plus ca change...

Does this mean that long-suffering Northern commuters are no longer getting the old shabby Thameslink trains? Normally that would be a blessing if they weren't already using trains that are half busses.

*I know the map seems to indicate they're shelving a Sheffield to London line, but the text says they're shelving the electrification of the line between York and Sheffield.

#ToriesGonnaTory

 

[scorza]

Not the best example. New Zealand has always invested in other cities. Wellington is the capital and money was rushed to Christchurch when it was needed.

Even France is a bad example. The high-speed TGV service runs all the way down to Marseilles. It already branches out to Belgium and it will run toSpain by 2020.

Indeed, and they're also building a new direct HS line from Tours to Bordeaux which will be of enourmous benefit to the citizens of these cities. It'd be like Britain building a HS line from Newcastle to Liverpool - unthinkable to the civil service as it wouldn't go through London.

 

[scorza]

Yes, unthinkable because it doesn't go through London. Not because the level of demand and the complexity of the engineering doesn't warrant it, but because it doesn't go through London.

This is why we have so many high speed lines that do go through London.

Oh wait. Just one. And it took us YEARS to even finish it. And it only goes to Europe.

Spoken like a true short-sighted British civil servant. Yes there's not much demand for travel between Liverpool and Newcastle at the moment because travelling between these two cities takes so long and is pretty unpleasant. If you could travel between them in say, ~90 mins rather than the 3.5 hours it takes at the moment then you'd see in increase in trade between the two cities.

The demand probably isn't there between BDX and TRS at the moment either but the French take the view that they want people to take the train rather than drive everywhere to invest in infrastructure projects like this to create demand.

 

[scorza]

We get most of our funding from Europe these days anyhow...

And the UK funds Europe...

 

[scorza]

It contributes. Your point being?

The point being that if we left the EU I think we'd be able to spend more money on our own trains, but that's a story for another thread.

BTW - you're complaining about 1970s era trains in the SW. Luxury! Northern Rail are still running 1950s era Pacer trains which are converted Leyland busses.