"Chris Tolley" wrote in message
...

I would very much appreciate the reinstatement of some
of the "slow lines" that have disappeared from 1979 onwards, and the
addition of some new ones where practicable.

Hear, hear! We are repeatedly told that we have a rapidly growing railway,
both in passenger and freight terms, and yet there is complete reluctance to
invest in the infrastructure that will perpetuate the growth (such as the
reinstatement of removed loops, redoubling of singled "slow" lines such as
on the Midland main line and restoration of mothballed diversionary and
secondary routes). The establishment of the SRA has only worsened the
problems - never was the word "strategic" less appropriately used. According
to this month's "Modern Railways" one of the loops on the GWML is the latest
casualty of cutbacks, which will further restrict lower speed movements on
that route.

Unfortunately, since accountants were given carte blanche to take over the
management of British industry we have seen this myopic approach adopted in
many areas, the only figures of interest to these people being the current
year's balance sheet. The sooner that 'broader thinkers' return to the fore
and long-term, joined-up thinking is employed, the better. If the current
mentality had been prominent in the nineteenth century then we wouldn't have
a railway system at all!