I disagree - I think it’ll help. Companies will find it easier to set up in MCR when they can get to London much more quickly. Whats clear is that if they don;t build it, people will be stuck working close to London.
I sed to live in Melton Mowbray which was quite a sleepy place until ECML made the fast London trains always stop at Grantham. Suddenly the number of people living there shot up, more shops opened in MM and Grantham as the place became commuter towns as it was one stop to Peterborough and then London. 1 hour 10 to Kings Cross and a five bedroom double garage house only cost £300k. And businesses spread out when they can get staff to work in London and live in rural locations with good communications.
It’ll happen I’m sure but I agree - local routes are difficult simply due to geography in that area.
We just see things through different lenses. That’s one of the beauties of life, and something that helps ensure proper balance, when reflected and acted upon with wisdom.
Sadly in politics there has been far to little of that of late, hence the current state of affairs.
The railways don’t work properly. I give you they didn’t when nationalised as well, for different reasons. But it’s still sardines etc, I wonder why they bother having seats in some trains, you can’t get to them. What is for sure is that a better solution is required. But that is above my pay grade.
On that I will bow out, for the simple reason I have more to deal with in life nowadays than debate politics. Spent three and a half decades doing that, from my university days onwards, including as you know, bending the ears of MPs etc. Done my bit, and debating the same old same old hasn’t achieved much has it!
Whoever leads our country from next month I just hope that they show wisdom, and work towards social harmony, in deed and not just in words. For it matters. After a decade of darkness our social structures are crumbling fast, over half a centuries work ruined in a decade.
Sad to see, sadder to be at the pointy end of. Hopefully wisdom will prevail. Not holding my breath, as I am back in the position of not knowing who to vote for.
I know someone who works for Network Rail on signalling. They get paid a lot, especially with shift/overtime allowances. Probably a lot more than you’d think.
Highly responsible job - bust still well overpaid given how much is automated if he is involved in the control centres.
Years ago I was at the Institute of Railway Signalling Engineers dinner in London, and a speaker asked why we paid people so much in the railways given we created signalling systems that never failother than safely and trains which can withstand almost any crash with few fatalities so why didn’t we employ people on lower salaries as they didn’t actually have much to do with the signalling any more.
You could hear heads exploding on the union side of the room.
I misread the thread title as “the politics of trans” and am feeling slightly disappointed.
But if we’re talking about trains instead then one thing I don’t understand is why trains still need drivers and guards. I’m reading about driverless cars everywhere. But if you were going to pick one mode of transport to fully automate, why wouldn’t it be trains which run on pre determined routes, on fixed rails, at planned times ?
Excuse my complete ignorance about this. And no offence to any train drivers in the crowd, maybe I’m completely failing to grasp what’s involved.
OPO or One Person Operation was put into the underground in the 80’s and has never been a problem other than the unions trying to stop it spreading to other lines using safety as an excuse.
The whole South West grain dispute is over guards - even though the same union agreed to their removal elsewhere.
There is also no problem with driverless trains providing tracks don’t intersect with manual operation trains. Victoria Line trains have always been capable of being driverless and they actually ran for a few days without drivers. Literally all a driver needs to do is to check there is not anyone stuck in the doors and then press two buttons at the same time. That’s all. And one driver got lazy and decided he only wanted to press one button so he taped a marble over one button to keep it pressed down. He looked really stupid when one day the train set off while he was outside due to an electrical fault on the other button but the train performed its normal duties and went to the next station without problems and let everyone out.
So Graham, in your opinion in a nutshell; how could things be improved. Would it literally be competition, or would that get messy on limited track space? What’s ‘hamstringing’ the current model.
I’m not sure I was suggesting that they should. I’ve not looked at the economic model of trains and train subsidies so can’t comment. It just seems like a very high fare for a relatively short stretch of track.
I think it’ll have a detrimental effect on the North because people currently living in London will move out of town while keeping their higher-paid London jobs, selling their one-bed flats in Clapham to buy mansions in Cheshire and drive house prices up there.
The most expensive house in the village that has been on sale in our time here has been on the market several times, been reduced, and is still not selling. Currently £1.75m iirc. There’s a Manor House nearby that some Americans bought for £8.5m and of course Jimmy Dyson’s crib…£zillions plus millions to maintain. Luckily the nearest station isn’t close enough to attract those city types.
