Recent content by muddythefish

Yes, agreed. I'm sure that the Treasury (which runs the country, not politicians) always viewed HS2 as another commuter line into London and had no intention of building it to the north. Hence when Rishi Sunak needed money for some pre-election bribes (sorry, policies) the Treasury suggested the...

By southwest I meant Devon and Cornwall, specifically the long-awaited Tavistock reopening and the Cullompton / Exeter "metro" scheme

Yes, but the DfT, which holds the purse strings and makes the big decisions, is in London. The proposal is to get the decision makers out of the capital, not just the back offices and outposts I'm sure the relative lack of spending in southwest is for political reasons

I was talking to a (very) senior DoH official recently and she said there was no reason for the department to be based in London at all. All the work could be done anywhere else in the country The same would presumably apply to the The Department of Transport. Would transport links in the north...

There are times when you despair of this country. This is one of them. Rather like the end of the Speedlink network it is a shock and deeply disappointing. For railfreight it always seems to be one step forward, three steps back.

Train station, which I've always considered an Americanism, annoys me intensely. I dislike hearing it and reading it. For me it was and always will be a railway station

Yes it did. Saw the Kelloggs train many times at New Barnet heading south from Hatfield to go up the WCML to Trafford Park. Big train too

Excellent post.

On the other hand, Beeching axed many routes where there was no apparent passenger demand at the time but now would be very well used and closing them has obviously been a mistake.

Exactly my feelings. In the 1970s and 1980s I sometimes travelled up to Scotland on a Sundays and the diversions via Hellifield and the S & C were never a problem (the opposite in fact - the scenery is lovely) you stayed on the train, did not have the hassle and inconvenience of changing on to...

Hope it's not the beginning of the end for the line. It was so busy with S & C freight in the 1960s and 1970s, and the Sunday diversions from the WCML were important too until they decided to bus passengers between Preston and Carlisle, something I will never, ever understand.

Isn't it another example of the railway operating for its own convenience than what passengers want? Back in the 1960s from Blackburn you could travel to Liverpool and Blackpool direct, as well as Manchester, Leeds and Bradford, and they were all well used. The Blackpool services were cut back...

Some excellent pictures there and a reminder of the variety of traffic on the MML all those years ago. I liked the Peaks It looks to me like 2 tracks through the station with up and down relief lines north of it, possibly because of what appears to be significant gradient?

How many other and what sort of freight trains use the Highland main line these days?

Thanks for the picture. I assume the MML used to be 4 tracks there?