daodao
Established Member
Moderator note: Split from
The railway network in Great Britain needs to focus on what rail does best in the light of the changed economic circumstances, which are at least partly self-inflicted. The basic principles were outlined in the Beeching reports from 60 years ago:
Article in the Spectator yesterday - "It's time we stopped subsidising the railways"
mod note - thread moved to the Speculative section of the forum as it is ostensibly just that - a speculative idea! By Ross Clark in the Spectator - in their blog not the magazine - some interesting/questionable figures in this article...
www.railforums.co.uk
That sums up the essence of the article.The government is spending far too much money on things that are not their core responsibility.
Sure transport will not be entirely self funding, but £15-20bn a year just for railways, on top of the fares, cannot continue.
The railway network in Great Britain needs to focus on what rail does best in the light of the changed economic circumstances, which are at least partly self-inflicted. The basic principles were outlined in the Beeching reports from 60 years ago:
- The Reshaping of British Railways
- The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes
- Carrying large numbers of passengers between major urban centres, and into big cities from their suburbs and neighbouring settlements
- bulk freight
- reduction in commuting, enabling a reduction in peak hour services (particularly to/from London), which are expensive to run in terms of staff/trains/infrastructure
- potential conversion of lines to light rail, with reduced costs and improved service frequency (vis-a-vis heavy rail), in which Manchester has led the way
- the major decline in certain freight flows, which has reduced the need for certain rural lines such as the Settle & Carlisle and Brigg lines, and thus raises the question as to whether their retention is either affordable or necessary
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