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Recent content by underbank

  1. underbank

    Unions promise to fight bid to make rail staff work weekends

    Trouble is, that if there's a shortage of people with the right qualities, how will rising salaries help? Surely it just moves the few able/capable people around, i.e. moving from one employer to another, which just leaves other employers short-staffed. The answer must be to either improve...
  2. underbank

    This is what gets the current rail system a bad name

    It sounds very similar to the NHS with an artificial/internal market that sometimes creates unnecessary complication and negative outcomes. Created with the best of intentions but maybe a lack of critical thinking as to the "unforeseen" consequences which are often entirely foreseeable but...
  3. underbank

    The proposed Eden Project North at Morecambe

    If people don't use the existing P&R to go into Lancaster, there's little chance of them using it to go to Morecambe. As said above, the car park is mainly for people doing car shares and relatively few people use the shuttle bus into Lancaster. (Finishing early so useless for late finishing...
  4. underbank

    RAIB Investigation costs (estimate)

    I've watched all the air crash investigation programs, and found them fascinating. Given that cars (and most trains) are pretty well fully controlled by computers these days, I wonder why we don't have the equivalent of the black (orange) box they have on aircraft to record a car/train's speed...
  5. underbank

    RAIB Investigation costs (estimate)

    Working out the "cost" of anything, such as a RAIB investigation, is never going to be an exact science. Taking total costs and dividing it into the number of investigations is a lazy/simplistic average which has no practical use and shouldn't ever be used as anything more than for passing...
  6. underbank

    Charter Trains - LSL vs The Others

    It's a great shame that none of the charter firms appear interested in running "specials" for sporting events, like football matches. It's crazy that it's so difficult to get public transport from the Northern towns/cities to football matches at Wembley, meaning huge numbers of fans travel on...
  7. underbank

    Possible electrification of routes as bolt-ons to the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP)

    Yes, along with the Windermere line to reduce the need for diesels between Manchester and Cumbria. I'd also love (I know it won't happen) to see the Carnforth to Skipton (Bentham) line electrified to enable an increased and/or faster service as an alternative/relief to the...
  8. underbank

    Can we afford another lockdown?

    Tax avoidance = tax planning = legal Tax evasion = illegal That's all there is to it.
  9. underbank

    Can we afford another lockdown?

    Difference is that most developed countries are also suffering Covid and massively damaged economies. Wealth is relative, not absolute, so if other countries are doing/suffering the same as us, the differential is unchanged, hence wealth markers such as exchange rates won't change. It would...
  10. underbank

    Supermarkets and Covid-19

    More importantly, what about the small tins of Heinz beans and sausages that they've stopped producing?
  11. underbank

    Have you gained or lost weight since the lockdown?

    I've lost two stones since February. I used to drive to work and then buy unhealthy lunches/snacks. Due to covid, my favourite junk food shops have been closed so I've got into the habit of taking a much simpler/cheaper packed lunch. Due to the good weather, I've been walking to/from work. I...
  12. underbank

    Does the Government know how people are behaving

    Or perhaps there were no spikes because few, if any, of those attending were infectious, after several weeks of lockdown, when cases in the community were low. If no one was contagious at that time, then there'd be no spreading. But when numbers of infectious increase again, the risk of it...
  13. underbank

    Coronavirus precautions: Has the world gone mad?

    I'm more worried about the minority who don't want to take any precautions at all, don't respect the majority who do wish to take precautions, and think everything should just return to exactly how it was back in January. The ones who have completely forgotten that schools and hospitals were...
  14. underbank

    Does the Government know how people are behaving

    No, but they could have made more use of the army thus freeing up police to actually do their core job, of policing the streets. Don't know about other areas, but around here, there've been endless social media reports proudly showing police taking selfies in empty parks, using police vans to...
  15. underbank

    Does the Government know how people are behaving

    Most government ministers (of all parties) and senior civil servants are living in a Westminster bubble detached from the real world. Gordon Brown brought in tax breaks for limited companies only and was then surprised when huge numbers of sole trader plumbers, window cleaners and dog walkers...

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