The Politics of Trains

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Cmon Eileen

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if the trains are bad… 1 hour 40 mins to get through security at Heathrow…

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If I ran the railways it would work like this:

  1. They would get the full Tesla treatment. Every train would be electric and 100% self driving.

  2. Trains would run 24h.

  3. You would never have to wait more than 30 minutes at any station.

  4. Every settlement with more that 10000 people would be connected to the rail network, and every settlement with more than 1000 people would be connected to stations by a fleet of self-driving electric vehicles running to an integrated timetable

  5. It would all be free to use, and paid for centrally through more tax on bad stuff like flying, cars, booze, fags and maybe higher rate of income tax EDIT and highly processed foods, and perhaps rather than just income tax make it a property tax.

  6. Alongside every trainline would be a cycleway. Because they are flat, and already there. This would be flooodlit at night, with regular recharging points for ebikes. There would be bike service and rental shops and food at every station.

  7. Decommission the A303 and turn it into a 130 mile long solar farm. Ok maybe that’s a bit optimistic. But solar tiles under the train tracks perhaps.

  8. Some other mad stuff

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@fruit_thief for president :raised_hands:

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That’s quality :joy:

I had a colleague who’s solution was to remove HGVs from roads and turn the rail network into freight only, creating more room for cars on the road.

But…seems like this strike is going to persist.
I might need to teach my wife to cycle at this rate :flushed:
Nice 8 mile eBike to Manchester :+1:t3:

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Mrs JGav started talking about cycling to work because of petrol prices. It’s 8 miles each way, a couple of small lumps but nothing too taxing. Only issue is that they don’t have showers at work until they build an extension.

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I don’t shower at work but keep the ride in very leisurely (helped by being mostly downhill) to avoid getting up a sweat. Coming back I work harder but that doesn’t matter as gear is going in the wash anyway.

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The whole “cycle to work in kit and shower and change at the office” is a very British thing, isn’t it? In other countries where people use a bike as a means of transport folks tend to take it easier and ride in “normal” clothes.

It probably contributes to some of the anti-social “commuter racer” behaviour.

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That’s where an ebike has a great use. Even when I was IM fit and cycled to work, Im a big unit and taking it gentle, there is still the odd lump to ride up and in summer I would sweat.

I know some people used baby wipes to have a bit of a tarts bath and then some deodorant for a Glasgow shower.

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I’d love to get her an ebike and sell the second car. Suspect that wouldn’t go down very well.

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My friend and I used to ride Velibs in summer in Paris at the speed “below sweating speed”. Remarkably slow at the height of summer. But necessary.

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We looked at a lot of office buildings when we were planning our move and all of the new and refurbished buildings in the City have great cycle commuting facilities. Our building has 120 bike racks, 20 individual shower cubicles, towels, lockers, drying room and basic bike tools and pump. 22 Bishopsgate even has a bike mechanic on site for maintenance and servicing.

The older buildings that we looked at in Canary Wharf didn’t even have showers. The agent from Canary Wharf Estates just shrugged and suggested joining a gym :roll_eyes:

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We have something in between. Smaller office, but there is a locked cupboard for about 6 bikes, 2 showers, daily towel service.

Not that it matters anymore as I dont go everyday but when I did it was decent enough

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I sweat walking up the stairs. There was zero chance of me commuting in normo clothes.

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That’s me too - I’m walking into the office on the days that I have to be there at the moment and at this time of year there is no way that I could walk in my “office clothes” and not be a sweaty, smelly mess for the rest of the day :roll_eyes:

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Im bad enough walking from the tube station on a hot. Especially as like all good offices, the AC is shit in our office and Karen in finance is cold so its set to 25C

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They tend to have

  • better weather
  • flatter roads
  • shorter distances (how many Parisians cycle 10 miles each way in their loafers?)
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There’s always one in every office I’ve worked.

Horrific.

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And they always seem to have the power of veto!

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The worst are the ones who insist on having the aircon turned down but then sit there with a fan on their desk​:roll_eyes::rofl:

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