Levelling up agenda

[BillyStubbsTears]

Belton.

Very simple from me. I would be delighted not to go through this again and to move on to have sensible discussions based on facts and fair representation of what people say, rather than imputing motives (as you did in your "moving on" post when you say you decided not to answer me because you "realised what I was up to", whatever that meant).

If that's where we end up then grand. Bring it on.

[belton rover]

Belton.

Very simple from me. I would be delighted not to go through this again and to move on to have sensible discussions based on facts and fair representation of what people say, rather than imputing motives (as you did in your "moving on" post when you say you decided not to answer me because you "realised what I was up to", whatever that meant).

If that's where we end up then grand. Bring it on.

Oh, I agree.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Another cracker yesterday.

Investment in new rail lines trumpeted (by the BBC) as "Govt invests £800m to re-open lines closed by Beeching".

Govt press release said it is part of their strategy to improve the lot of "left behind communities".

Great! Loads of new rail for the post-industrial North!

Err. No.

The £800m is £40m for a new link from Newcastle to Ashington, and £760m for a new line from left-behind Oxford to left-behind Cambridge.

Meanwhile, the electrification of the East Midlands Mainline which was "delayed" half a decade ago due to Austerity has dropped entirely off the agenda.

I'm struggling to think of a single city of 500,000+ in the whole of Western Europe that doesn't have an electrified rail line, other than Sheffield.

EDIT:
It's ok folks. Network Rail "wants" to electrify the line.












By 2050...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.business-live.co.uk/regional-development/network-rail-wants-finally-electrify-18916958.amp

[River Don]

I think Leeds is the largest city in Europe that doesn't have a metropolitan  transit system.

[ravenrover]

Bill, I thought the 40m for the North East was to upgrade an existing freight only line

[wilts rover]

Transport for the North's budget cut by 40% and £100m for 'oystercard' style combined ticketless system canelled.

https://twitter.com/thomasforth/status/1349476325480914944

[Ldr]

Bill, I thought the 40m for the North East was to upgrade an existing freight only line

Thats right RR its local to me and traversed it in 2019 on a railtour

[Glyn_Wigley]

Transport for the North's budget cut by 40% and £100m for 'oystercard' style combined ticketless system canelled.

https://twitter.com/thomasforth/status/1349476325480914944

Northern Workhouse.

[scawsby steve]

Another cracker yesterday.

Investment in new rail lines trumpeted (by the BBC) as "Govt invests £800m to re-open lines closed by Beeching".

Govt press release said it is part of their strategy to improve the lot of "left behind communities".

Great! Loads of new rail for the post-industrial North!

Err. No.

The £800m is £40m for a new link from Newcastle to Ashington, and £760m for a new line from left-behind Oxford to left-behind Cambridge.

Meanwhile, the electrification of the East Midlands Mainline which was "delayed" half a decade ago due to Austerity has dropped entirely off the agenda.

I'm struggling to think of a single city of 500,000+ in the whole of Western Europe that doesn't have an electrified rail line, other than Sheffield.

EDIT:
It's ok folks. Network Rail "wants" to electrify the line.












By 2050...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.business-live.co.uk/regional-development/network-rail-wants-finally-electrify-18916958.amp

The maddest thing is, BST, the main line from the old Sheffield Victoria station, (that I used to love), to Manchester, was electrified in the 60s and 70s, and for some reason was abandoned, and Victoria demolished.

I could never understand that.

[BillyStubbsTears]

SS.

I think what precipitated the Victoria line closure was a fire in the Woodhead Pass that made it structurally unsafe.

But yep, the way that line was just turned off is indicative of how the North has been treated for decades. Having a rail link between South Yorkshire and Manchester that takes over an hour, uses old, small, crowded trains on a line that has very low capacity leading to regular delays. If you were going to design a transport system intended to hamper South Yorkshire's economic potential, this is what you'd come up with.

[SydneyRover]

It looks like the tunnel was closed to passenger trains due to maintenance costs and frieght continued.

The crew of the train pulling petrol wagons escaped the massive fire without injury, I'd like to know how they were persuaded to go back in to the tunnel and decouple the engine and the 3 tankers still on the rails and drive them out.


''Although the Hope Valley line was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report, instead, the government decided to cease passenger services on the Woodhead line, allegedly due to the high cost of upgrading and modernising the route. In 1970, the last passenger services ran through the tunnel but the line continued to host freight trains. The last train passed through the tunnels in 1981 when the line was closed''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodhead_Tunnel

Old video of tunnel fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffhEHIEi70

Description of fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Tunnel_fire

[Ldr]

It looks like the tunnel was closed to passenger trains due to maintenance costs and frieght continued.

The crew of the train pulling petrol wagons escaped the massive fire without injury, I'd like to know how they were persuaded to go back in to the tunnel and decouple the engine and the 3 tankers still on the rails and drive them out.


''Although the Hope Valley line was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report, instead, the government decided to cease passenger services on the Woodhead line, allegedly due to the high cost of upgrading and modernising the route. In 1970, the last passenger services ran through the tunnel but the line continued to host freight trains. The last train passed through the tunnels in 1981 when the line was closed''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodhead_Tunnel

Old video of tunnel fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffhEHIEi70

Description of fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Tunnel_fire

I dont think summit tunnel was/is on the woodshed route Syd

[Filo]

The Woodhead Tunnel can’t be reopened anyway, National Gride use it to run power lines through now

[Not Now Kato]

Transport for the North's budget cut by 40% and £100m for 'oystercard' style combined ticketless system canelled.

https://twitter.com/thomasforth/status/1349476325480914944

Northern Workhouse.

Northern Poorhouse.

[SydneyRover]

It looks like the tunnel was closed to passenger trains due to maintenance costs and frieght continued.

The crew of the train pulling petrol wagons escaped the massive fire without injury, I'd like to know how they were persuaded to go back in to the tunnel and decouple the engine and the 3 tankers still on the rails and drive them out.


''Although the Hope Valley line was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report, instead, the government decided to cease passenger services on the Woodhead line, allegedly due to the high cost of upgrading and modernising the route. In 1970, the last passenger services ran through the tunnel but the line continued to host freight trains. The last train passed through the tunnels in 1981 when the line was closed''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodhead_Tunnel

Old video of tunnel fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffhEHIEi70

Description of fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Tunnel_fire

I dont think summit tunnel was/is on the woodshed route Syd

I'm must be getting tunnel vision, there are three tunnels called Woodhead 1,2 and 3 so thanks for the correction I thought the summit was one of these.