The Welsh Government have announced a plan to ban coal burning in home fires. Is this going to affect heritage lines and any possible small scale mining ventures?
A new clean air law could see burning house coal banned in Wales, and stricter rules on using wood fires.
www.bbc.co.uk
Ugh. I don't understand these really inconsequential moves. There are so many more larger pollutants than a few people using coal domestically. Climate change only became a significant concern once the oil age came and our use of fossil fuels skyrocketed.
Giving out more grants for heatpumps, insulation and investment in public transport will make significantly more difference. But this involves significantly more effort on the part of a governing authority instead of simply "banning" things.
Mothball the steam locos as static museum pieces, and use Pacers on the line, with the marketing priority being given to sightseeing the countryside in comfort, rather than riding old trains
Oh no, this is not a good take. Most people go to ride the railways for the trains, they like the old steam locomotives, even if they don't know much about trains in general.
No-one will want to ride Pacers except for enthusiasts.
Let’s be honest, the contribution of heritage railways to climate change is so infinitesimally small as to be an utter irrelevance.
Well, I guess I didn't need to make that point!
Very true. It's like going after Scout campfires while at the same time doing nothing about road vehicles.
I feel like some of these special "edge cases" should be looked at last, as a last resort. But right now, the heritage railways would save much more carbon encouraging people to take a national rail, or bus service to the railway instead of driving, rather than changing fuels.
Nevermind the absolute ton of diesels belting up and down the various mainlines at 125mph all day every day.
Get Vivarail to fit a battery pack and electric traction package in place of the boiler. They like doing that sort of thing.
Lmao I was gonna make a joke about that!
Like an even worse version of those swiss steam engines which used OLE to boil the water.