jeudi 20 juillet 2017

UK - Plug pulled on rail electrification plans

Rail transport in the UK has had a long and complicated history. Unlike some European countries, the rail network was never centrally planned and IMO the UK rail infrastructure has often suffered because of it because of lack of infrastructure in some places, and duplication in others.

Another area where the UK has long lagged is in electrification. We've only had limited electrification, largely on commuter services and because of various reasons, some technical, many financial, electrification has been via a third rail rather than overhead. This is both a risk to people working on the line and limits the amount of power available.

The rail industry was chronically underfunded, definitely since the Second World War and arguably since the First World War. One of the few advantages of rail privatisation was that money could be made available for investment (at a price however) and so there has been some improvement in the under-investment - although IMO there are much better value, both in terms of cost to the consumer but also the government, ways to do it.

Finally, it seemed as though UK mainline services would be electrified but it seems that this has been abandoned and we'll have to use slow accelerating, fossil fuel guzzling diesels for the foreseeable future. :mad:

Quote:

The government has scrapped the planned electrification of railway lines in Wales, the Midlands and the North.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the government will instead introduce faster trains with more seats and better on-board facilities.
http://ift.tt/2ubAU5R

Yet another promise broken it seems :rolleyes:


via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2tK1hOt

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