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The first step in proposing to reopen thsis branch is to rebut the conclusions of the Halcrow report, commissioned by the County Council who were quite happy to kill off athe original proposal for which they had no funding or budget. I found several errors in the report but most disturbing was...

If we're talking in the past tense Padstow and Wadebridge were at the end of a long SR line that branched off the Barnstaple line and proceeded through Okehampton and Halwill Jcn. Trains to and from Padstow went that way rather than down to Bodmin "Parkway". Out of interest SR trains to Padstow...

Indeed Taunton. Notwithstanding the point m'learned friends made about negligence and fraud above (which I accept) there was clearly poor or no scrutiny of the project when it was driving towards the brick wall of non delivery. Where were the NAO in all of this? We pay them to do this, just as...

Ah that sounds familiar! In fact it's so familiar everyone in project management dreads hearing that tasks are "95% complete"! I know this goes on in every large project - but one of the reason project managers exists is to know how large project teams function and all the human rigmarole that...

I've got a lot of time for Bob Mortimer - sorry Mark Wild - since he took over Crossrail in 2019, so this is definitely not a criticism of him and his team since they took over, but looking at the latest (February 2020) station progress videos on YouTube some stations, especially Whitechapel...

But then signaller leaves, signaller retires, signaller on holiday, signaller on other shift, and of course the elephant in the room signaller on strike. ........Like all software ARS programming develops and improves over time, just as a young signaller becomes more adept and familiar over time...

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/hs2-government-to-give-high-speed-rail-line-the-go-ahead.200154 I found Michael Heseltine's interview on PM two weeks ago most interesting. He pointed out that with projects of this nature, huge benefits accrue in time that cannot...

Yes. Paul Clifton is a respected rail journalist who writes articles for several rail journals and sites. He would be known and hopefully "trusted" by rail managers not to misuse information given, nor would he compromise his sources. If he quotes Monday then it's come from a reliable source...

That sharp curve just eastbound of Fareham station makes me wince with long loco hauled freight trains. Not sure of its radius but it must be even sharper than Northam. Imagine if another freight derailed at Fareham - on second thoughts don't.

Totally agree, and Rich beat me to it. The only way this will get anywhere in Parliament is for it to go via an MP or possibly the Mayor of Manchester. Even as a Private Members Bill it would fail. It has to go through all the due process of parliamentary machinery and the Secretary of State for...

I hear you and agree and to an extent also get angry about the "complexity inflation" that leads to cost multiples in all our large infrastructure projects. But the problem that is always overlooked is that this is not created by privatisation and therefore won't be solved by nationalisation...

Thank you - valuable research.

Consultants dipping into the sweetie jar of "good ideas" seems like an idle diversion but it leads to an endless cycle of debate and argument so beloved of politicians who prefer to keep talking rather than actually doing, and we have enough of those already to supply the whole of Europe. If...

A Nasty letter, or just "a letter" as the rest of us might call it. Some rather thin skins on here apparently.

This is the problem. Anti HS2 campaigners are very skilled at bombarding their MPs and the media with their protests until everyone thinks that nobody wants it and that there is no business case for it. Pro HS2 campaigners who generally are far better informed simply bombard each other.

Point accepted with thanks! But isn't the point about powering a train for the service capacity AT THE TIME exactly what iam Walmsley was saying? You don't build new trains every day so shouldn't the Treasury (Thank you, agree) accepted the advice of the planners and designers and gone with a...

Ian087 has covered the first point, and nothing more to say on the matter. Regarding the second, I think this arose from a "Cost Cutting" idea to terminate HS2 at Old Oak Common rather than Euston. This of course means that OOC would become a massive interchange with all HS2 passengers...

This is a bit off topic I know but forgive me because Ian Walmsley (ex Porterbrook manager) talked about this in terms of traction on this line, and made some interesting points. The only way to increase speed is to a) use units with better acceleration+braking characteristics and b) use the...

THanks Iggy, as luck would have it I am not travelling until the 16th so the collection from the station is a feasible option. However the first race at Plumpton is just after 12 so I must take an earlier train. I have followed JB's advice and used a split ticket website which has saved me a few...

Thanks - JB - good advice!