MR MUGRIDGE….and P08CRG
A lovely picture of the Lune Valley….
It might be more honest, however, when trying to compare the impact of the rail line to that of the motorway, if you and other Twitterati were to inform your followers that the Goring Gap does not ( yet ! ) have a six lane motorway running through it, and that to compare a dual track / electrified with single track cantilevers / in a cutting with what is being installed in the Goring Gap is apples and oranges….
PHILIP….
Tedious for yourself and others, perhaps, but maybe yourself and the others should just stop reading and posting on this particular thread, no ?….We all appreciate your technical knowledge, even if we don’t all understand the full technicalities, but having moaned about some of my postings on the original thread and asking for this new thread to be started so that those of us of us who want to can continue to discuss NR’s underhand tactics on this subject, coming on here and moaning yet again is being a bit greedy….
You effectively asked me not to post on the previous thread, somewhat condescendingly saying
Most of us have been most patient with you, but in the face of myths being repeatedly perpetuated, really enough is enough now.
Let’s get this clear - I have complained, here on this forum, mainly about NR’s failure to meet its Social Obligations regarding its failure to consult on mitigation….But it is the AsONB and CPRE and several lawyers who have been consulted who believe that NR is in breach of its statutory obligations regarding infrastructure developments in the two AsONB….I will back their knowledge of these statutory obligations against those of the overwhelming majority of posters on here, therefore not wholly a myth on my part....
But while you and others are here, I’ll add my own comments and clarification to your recent post….
It's getting a bit tedious now. They're not getting new portal gantries, no matter how much they keep banging on about it. There is nothing else out there designed, ready for production, which has been tested and which fits into certification. The metalwork, if it's not fitted, has already been ordered, paid for and mainly manufactured for Goring anyway, and was done long before this campaign kicked off.
They're trading a loss of some views for a railway that 24/7/365 will makes considerably less noise, which will have much less air pollution and for those people in the area using the train service, will have more capacity, be more reliable and offer better journey times and options.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to let the courts decide whether ‘they’ are not getting new portal gantries, whether already paid for, delivered, installed or whatever….The Action Group are still waiting, since late summer, on a FOI request to NR to prove that NR requested F+F to produce the least visually obtrusive design….If no request was made, then there is additional suspicion / evidence to conclude that NR did not attempt mitigation in the Goring Gap as the AsONB believe was their statutory obligation…. You are, however, correct that gantries and portals were being installed before the Campaign started as NR did not undertake the originally promised consultation on design and mitigation before the ground engineering and installation began….
And not wholly correct in your assessment of the trade-off as they are trading not some views, but a three or four mile stretch of disfigurement of a beautiful landscape for what benefit ?
There will be very little noise improvement. NR’s own Environmental Statement states that electric trains are 3db quieter than existing traffic in the Goring Gap – but I’d challenge anyone here to distinguish between, say, 97dbs and 94dbs close in, or 56dbs and 53dbs from a distance….And as it has been stated that there will be an increase in traffic, over a 24 hour period, the overall noise levels and noise disruption will almost certainly increase, no ? Those who live there will tell you that at the moment, the noise of an HS125 at 100 mph through the Goring Gap lasts about 30 seconds from silence to silence close up and less than 10 seconds from the surrounding hills….The XCountry trains are virtually silent, even close up….The DMU’s operating the local stopping services are noisy when stationary, but again virtually silent 200 > 300 meters after starting, and the noisiest trains are the freight trains which because they are long, slow and heavy and pulled by diesel units, are the worst offenders and these diesel units will be not be replaced for another 10 years at least….
Much less air pollution ? Partly agreed….Reduced air pollution will be a huge benefit, but as only about 50% of traffic will switch from diesel to electric within the next five years or so, depends whether 50% can be termed ‘ much less’….
More capacity ? Local stopping trains in the Goring Gap are never, ever, full , end of….Between 09.30 and 15.30, they run at less than 20% occupancy and in commuter rush hours tend to fill and empty at Reading for journeys to and from Paddington…So more capacity needed for Paddington <> Reading, of course….More capacity needed for Oxford <> Reading, absolutely not required….
More reliable ? Depends heavily on FGW, no, and not necessarily on the electrification of the track….However, my simple mind says diesels trains and non-electrified track equals just a single component which may be defective….Electric trains and electrified track equals two components which may be defective….
Better journey times and options ? Not too sure what you mean by options, but strange you say better journey times because NR have stated categorically that they cannot confirm the frequencies and journey times between Goring Gap and Oxford / Paddington following the Project’s completion as this is the responsibility of the TOC’s….If you have, already, or have seen a copy of FGW’s schedules and journey times for 2020, please share them with NR….
