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Aurora

On Sat, 4 Jan 2014 10:27:40 +0100, Robin9
wrote:

;140333 Wrote:
On Wed, 01 Jan 2014 13:41:38 -0800
Aurora wrote:-
On Wed, 1 Jan 2014 19:18:18 +0000 (UTC), d
wrote:
-
On Wed, 1 Jan 2014 17:24:25 +0000
Roland Perry wrote:-
In message , at 09:04:08 on
Wed, 1 Jan 2014, Aurora remarked:

HMG in the UK is funding the largest program of rolling
electrification to date. This may be the biggest rail investment
since the 1950s modernization.

More than the £9bn on the WCML upgrade or £15bn on Crossrail?

Investment funding across the network for the next 5 years, which
includes money to complete Crossrail and Thameslink, comes to £9bn-

Which will be small change compared to the costs of HS2 if it goes
ahead.-

That money could do so much good if spent elsewhere on the UK network.
The Welwyn bottleneck would be a good start.-

If the government had been honest and said simply that the west coast
main
line has reached capacity and a new parallel line is needed I suspect
most
people would be for HS2 or some version of it. But selling it as a way
just to
shave 15 mins off a trip to brum was moronic and quite rightly people
said it
would be a waste of money.

I wonder if it would be possible to increase the loading gauge on the
WCML
to allow double deck trains and increase capacity that way? Would be
bloody
expensive but perhaps not quite HS2 expensive.

--
Spud

Wouldn't it be cheaper to have longer trains? Before privatisation,
trains on all
main routes, not just WCML, were longer than they are now. As one who
travelled frequently by train in the '60s, '70s and '80s, I am always
struck by
how short today's trains are. I am not at all surprised that there is
overcrowding at peak times.

Good point, although I am not sure that the Pendelinos are that much
shorter than previous trains on the NW route. However, looking at
other routes, cross country, SW to Exeter, etc., the difference is
remarkable.
--

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