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Maybe that was the idea: that the UK will always have newish EMU that they don’t need anymore. ;)

If those units were offered cheap, it makes perfect sense. However, if the infrastructure too was built on the British loading gauge, then for replacement units, operators are severely restricted instead of being able to buy off-the-shelf Continental stock. It would have been a very stupid...

7 additional sets were ordered for trains to Germany. But that was mid-2022 so I doubt they will be ready in December 2023 (but could not find a due delivery date). On another thread here it was mentioned that all LHCS on the routes via Basel would switch to ICE.

Four-track the approaches to Sheffield from both the South and the North, build another island platform in the station (by moving Supertram to the main entrance side); possibly have this additional platform be accessible directly from the Worksop side without touching the main lines.

It’s true, but unlike Switzerland, it’s not true that in Austria, everything has been electrified almost „since ever“. A lot was done in the 1950s and 1960s and we continued consistently from there. Anyway, I will continue my list: a high-speed line from Exeter to Plymouth to have an...

Much less because of the larger clearance. It does happen though. I always point this out for instance in Austrian forums to defend the UK. ;) Still, given our investment profile, a much larger part of the UK network would be electrified.

Rail is indeed expensive, but also, UK politics (and apparently with approval from the electorate) is not prepared to invest a particularly large amount of money into it. By Continental standards, there are plenty of suggestions here (by no means all, though) that would already be built or in...

It’s from the loco pool that hauls Austria/Italy freight. Apparently still cheaper than having Trenitalia supply a loco. 1686950177 I think that SBB recently ordered a second series of Girunos specifically for services to Germany, so using ICE on all trains might only be an interim solution...

If the required capacity between Edinburgh and Dunfermline is there (significant acceleration usually leads to significant passenger growth, hence more trains - and if that doesn’t happen, the new line should in retrospect be judged useless), I would think your proposal is equally good and...

No one would start with a London - Paris/Amsterdam service. The daytime journey is so short, there would be no demand!

Not my idea obviously, but: a tunnel from Edinburgh via Leith to the north of Kircaldy (if Lego works, then that‘s fine with me), so as to accelerate journeys from Edinburgh to the north and release capacity for local services. Less fanciful: invest much more in grade separation, usually a...

I don’t believe for a second that such an LGV will be built within my lifetime or in the decades thereafter. The LGV Sud-Est is more heavily used than the LGV Nord (which regularly seems to have no more than max 2 E*, 2 ex-Thalys, 2 Lille, 1 Arras/Douai/Lens and 1-2 Interconnecion an hour) and...

- make Curzon Street the single Intercity station for Birmingham (New Street as an S-Bahn station only) with new lines towards Bristol/Worcester and Wolverhampton to release capacity for S-Bahn - build a Manchester Crossrail Piccadilly- Salford Central - Chat Moss/Bolton not for HS2/NPR but for...

You are perfectly right, and I am sure there is plenty wrong with my numbers as well.

Thank you. I admit that my question was slightly tongue-in-cheek, since everything you need taxpayer money for, we do to - neither doctors nor the police work for free in Austria and I am quite sure that our public services are not worse than yours. Anyway, I had hoped that my numbers are wrong…

Having followed this thread and various recent others, notably the one on the 221 moving to GC when everybody knows XC is desperate for more capacity (but the DfT doesn’t have the money), my conclusion is the the difference between Continental Europe and even the English-speaking country with...

The through Golden Pass trains are now running again: BLS press release, unfortunately not yet available in English. https://www.bls.ch/en/unternehmen/medien/medienmitteilungen/2023/06-09-gpx-wiederinbetriebnahme

When I was there, they were. Even on line 15, locals certainly were the minority. No, Lisbon doesn’t have a functioning tram system - and I have used so many different trams in so many different cities that I know the difference (and btw I do not consider the system in my hometown Vienna to be...

Not my impression when I have been there. The last time was in November btw, definitely not summer season. I don’t blame them either - operations are a complete mess and more often than not, when a tram comes along, it’s full to the rafters and no one can board. Nobody in their sane mind would...

To me, Lisbon feels like a real-life tramway museum. Apart from line 15, the trams don’t really have a role in public transportation. It’s nice to see and ride it once, but I really prefer a useful tram network (as I do for trains).