Hi Robbie and everybody.
Well Robbie, can i be the first to wish you a very happy birthday and it is very good to hear of the excellent developments in Scotland's railways in this thread and the alternative thread you started in regard to Glasgow's number two station. However, I do wish that those of us south of the border had similar expansion and development plans to portray, but sadly that is not the case. In the south of England all we have are the crazy misguided plans for HS2 which are still being put forward by the government while at the same time they announce huge cuts to the existing rail infrastructure expenditure.
By example, here in the West Country the cost of upgrading the Portishead to Bristol rail line to enable it to take passenger services has risen from £58 million to an estimate of between £145 million to £175 million. Network Rail have also informed North Somerset district council that they will have to pickup the entire cost of the project as network rail do not have sufficient funds to contribute in any part of the cost. The foregoing immediately brought forward an announcement of the cancellation of the upgrade for the immediate future, and review is to be carried out as to the viability of the whole project going forward.
In the above, like many here in North Somerset I fale to see how it can cost 175 million to upgrade a rail line which is already used for freight on a daily basis. Further to the foregoing, had Network Rail not wasted £3 billion on the electrification of the Great Western Mainline (which will never now be completed), then perhaps the expenditure on the Portishead line would have been available.
So, south of the border Robbie things are most definitely not looking good for rail upgrades into the future. I feel that in England too much time and expenditure is spent looking at the railways past history, with too little time on planning and cost control being given over to the present on which the future of our railways rely.
With the railways in England in such chaos, I cannot wait for first driverless cars to be placed on the market as I am determined (like many I suspect) that I will have one of the first. Once I have that vehicle, the government, Network Rail, the striking drivers, the striking guards and the whole rail system can "go to hell" as I will be able to work as I travel with the car taking the strain instead of the train taking the strain.
As stated, I believe there are many thinking similar to me, certainly not good for the railways going forward (LOL)
Bill