For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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#1692128
PaulB wrote: (And why is London the only area in England to offer free transport to the over 60s? How can they afford it?)

They can't, the rest of us are paying for it while not getting it. :(


Oh, and on HS2 being part of mandated EU wide rail; it's the Trans-European Transport Networks Regulation. Except, like HS2, it's failing so it's not talked about much, but it's there.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1692136
On the Europe wide transport item, in case anyone's interested, you can Google TEN T and find quite a lot about its history and context. I don't want to get into politics, but you can't really say it's failing, because it's not a project, rather it's a framework for national projects which can benefit from joint funding some cases. Parts of the M25 and M20 have been worked on under this framework. The idea goes back a very long way and has its nascence in the "E" routes you can see on road maps.
#1692137
eltonioni wrote:
PaulB wrote:Oh, and on HS2 being part of mandated EU wide rail; it's the Trans-European Transport Networks Regulation. Except, like HS2, it's failing so it's not talked about much, but it's there.


Where’s the mandate? Surely if it was a mandate, the enabling legislation (for HS2) in the UK would say so.... but I didn’t see anything when I looked last night. Anyway Trans European Networks ceased to exist in 2013 and was taken over by INEA (https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en)

INEA seems to fund lots of things in the UK, but HS2 doesn’t seem to be one of them.
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#1692142
I'm definitely no expert, having only been exposed to TENTR through other work related issues, but I can use Google as well as anyone else here. ;) https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/h ... udit-says/

In truth, a coordinated rail system seems like a good idea, but I'm really not very interested in anything more than HS2 being scrapped and the funds being reallocated northwards.
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#1692143
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ors-london

Empowerment of the Northern Powerhouse is just a figment of the imagination.


What a terrible article. As usual for the Guardian it is trying to push the north/south divide by focusing purely on London. It's a capital city for gods sake. Next week we will be banging on about equality in the USA as Manhattan has a better transport system than Nebraska.

Meanwhile try and build a modern rail system to the north and it's met with nothing but Nimbism and negativity.
rikur_ liked this
By PaulB
#1692145
Not sure that the parallels with the USA are relevant given the difference between the 2 countries, but the US has a number of major city economies that are not its capital.... you even mentioned part of one.
#1692149
My point was the article compares the transport within a major city with that of a larger region, the north. It compares living in London and being able to get around quickly on the tube with taking a much longer time to get to Skelmersdale.

There are good transport links in London like most capital or major cities but you pay for it. I wonder if people in the north want the house prices and population levels that London has?

Whenever I see these articles about the so called north/south divide I do wonder what the people living in places such as Southampton, Dover or Bristol think about it. Its almost always about London vs everywhere else and is reflected in most countries throughout the world.
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By rikur_
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1692354
PaulB wrote:And why is London the only area in England to offer free transport to the over 60s?

Not quite true .... Merseyside for example?
Concessionary fares are very variable - because they're devolved to local authorities.
It's easier to offer 'better' concessionary fares when you've got a large number of full fare payers to cross-subsidise (e.g. London), or a political disposition to fund through taxation.

Over the past couple of years I've increasingly seen the fairness of 'free travel for older people' challenged in local authority debates about which sorts of transport user to subsidise. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48046595
By PaulB
#1693798
More bad press for HS2 this time from a House of Lords committee.

Wont be able to keep to budget, journey times prioritised of economic benefits to regions offering little benefit to northern cities despite their need for better transport infrastructure being the greatest. Apparently!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48284105
#1693806
I have no doubt it will overrun. I would be surprised if it wasn't already over budget.

This is largely down to the way these projects are tendered and awarded. The cheapest price generally gets the job so there is no money in it for the contractor. This leads to claim after claim for any and all extra work or unseen issues that arise. If you put a price forward with a pot set aside to cover these risks you wouldn't win the job.

Despite the large figures thrown around in regards to these big projects there is very little money to be made by the lead contractors and it's not unusual to make a loss on them. (Remember Carillion?)The money has to be made back somewhere.

That being said phase 2 will see a massive benefit in terms of lessons learned in phase 1, a skilled workforce already in place and plant, machinery already acquired.
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1693809
Indeed, add to that the usual lack of knowledge in skill in writing the spec by HMG and you have the perfect storm.

The sad thing is that all involved know exactly how the merry little dance go it is just that it is played out this way so that parts of it can be highlighted at various times when it suits the various players.
#1693826
felixflyer wrote: That being said phase 2 will see a massive benefit in terms of lessons learned in phase 1, a skilled workforce already in place and plant, machinery already acquired.


Personally speaking, I'd prefer the southern leg to benefit from lessons learned during the building of the northern sections first.

Fat chance of that, or the northern sections being built, but at least the capital's northern money sucking machine will be hobbled by not building the northern sections.
kanga liked this
By PaulB
#1693914
Transpennine is not even electrified and still using old cast-off DMUs that are probably decades old.
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