UK Strategic Planning

[bickster]

24 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said:

Would we expect a labour government to re-open previously closed lines in a nationalised rail service?

This is already happening under a Tory Government so why not

The Dartmoor line reopened after 50 years. Part of the Waverley Line reopened with more being proposed

Aberdare Line looking like it may eventually reopen up to Hirwaun on the old Vale of Neath line (or the Tower Colliery line)

Plenty more besides, strangely happening more in devolved Wales and Scotland but there are moves afoot in England too.

EDIT: I completely East West Rail that connects or will connect Oxford to Cambridge
And of course the ELizabeth Line has recently opened

[bickster]

Some more lines that are currently in progress as reopening or being built;

• The Barrow Hill Line between Sheffield and Chesterfield
• The Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Burton on Trent
• The Fleetwood Line
• The Mid-Cornwall Metro

 

[Chindie]

Bastards won't give Birmingham an underground though.

[VILLAMARV]

42 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said:

you are giving people more sticks to beat you with.

you are right of course, if one boils down the provision of a service to the metric of reasons to criticise a government. It underpins much of the political landscape over my lifetime this diminishing of responsibility. The outsourcing of accountability.

Thing is, for most rail users it's about being able to catch an affordable, reliabe train.

[cheltenham_villa]

2 hours ago, VILLAMARV said:

 

Thing is, for most rail users it's about being able to catch an affordable, reliabe train.

Which is exactly my question. Why will a nationalised rail service be more affordable or reliable? The main argument seems to be that they can't be any worse which I don't think we can necessarily say. 

[cheltenham_villa]

3 hours ago, bickster said:

This is already happening under a Tory Government so why not

The Dartmoor line reopened after 50 years. Part of the Waverley Line reopened with more being proposed

Aberdare Line looking like it may eventually reopen up to Hirwaun on the old Vale of Neath line (or the Tower Colliery line)

Plenty more besides, strangely happening more in devolved Wales and Scotland but there are moves afoot in England too.

EDIT: I completely East West Rail that connects or will connect Oxford to Cambridge
And of course the ELizabeth Line has recently opened

Some good examples. Maybe mistakenly I assumed the main frustration came from the closure of lines and station to remote areas. As someone who uses the Elizabeth line frequently it's an excellent investment. 

[bickster]

1 minute ago, cheltenham_villa said:

Some good examples. Maybe mistakenly I assumed the main frustration came from the closure of lines and station to remote areas. As someone who uses the Elizabeth line frequently it's an excellent investment. 

Beaching was a long time ago now. Very few lines have closed since the 70s

Some are still in the 60s though (Southport to Wigan, I'm looking at you with your semaphore signals, passing loops at stations and manual level crossings

[chrisp65]

I can’t read any further because of paywall, but reads true as far as I can see…

Telegraph

Quote

The Welsh government has been accused of spoiling the Welsh countryside with wind farms to spite the English....

 

[Genie]

2 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

I can’t read any further because of paywall, but reads true as far as I can see…

Telegraph

 

Here you go

Full Article

Quote

The Welsh government has been accused of spoiling the Welsh countryside with wind farms to spite the English.

Cardiff is pressing ahead with onshore wind farm developments when it could explore more offshore projects because it does not want to send fees to the Crown Estate or share control of projects with the UK Government, campaigners have warned.

Fay Jones, Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, criticised the Welsh government for taking a nationalist policy stance on green energy.

 

[chrisp65]

2 minutes ago, Genie said:

Here you go

Full Article

Ah that’s even sweeter, thanks.

Personally, I genuinely quite like / don’t mind on shore wind farms.

Or let’s put it another way, its cheap renewable energy, and I quite like playing records and putting lights on at night.

If that pisses off some countryside tory, I’m struggling to see a downside.

[Genie]

Just now, chrisp65 said:

Ah that’s even sweeter, thanks.

Personally, I genuinely quite like / don’t mind on shore wind farms.

Or let’s put it another way, its cheap renewable energy, and I quite like playing records and putting lights on at night.

If that pisses off some countryside tory, I’m struggling to see a downside.

We play a family game of “spinny” when we go on a family drive somewhere. First to see a wind turbine shouts spinny. I also like using electricity so I have no problem with them either.

[blandy]

I don’t know where to start with that torygraph article. The whole thing and pretext and the people quoted…it’s **** deranged. The content, the take, the ignorance, the pettiness….

Broadsheet discussion and analysis of infrastructure needs…whistle into the wind

[sidcow]

I'm massively pro onshore wind farms. It's the cheapest form of electricity we currently have. 

I've always said I don't think they're ugly and I'd probably stare at one for hours. 

However my eyes were opened a little when my Sister in Law who lives in France mentioned their nearby windfarm. They can see it but it's still a fair way away. She said though when the wind blows towards them they can hear the distant whine of the turbines and is glad she's no closer. 

I would feel very sorry for someone too close who has a lot of noise so there does need to be consideration about location. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by sidcow

[limpid]

1 hour ago, sidcow said:

I would feel very sorry for someone too close who has a lot of noise so there does need to be consideration about location. 

And ye people live by railways.

[Genie]

3 minutes ago, limpid said:

And ye people live by railways.

Most people that live by railways probably moved there knowing about the noise and accepted it. 

In the case of on-shore wind we’d be talking about putting them next to existing, quieter homes so I do have some sympathy for people impacted by it. 

[limpid]

Just now, Genie said:

Most people that live by railways probably moved there knowing about the noise and accepted it. 

In the case of on-shore wind we’d be talking about putting them next to existing, quieter homes so I do have some sympathy for people impacted by it. 

Do the modern ones make as much noise as old ones? Or is just one of those things people say that they do.

A quick Google:

Quote

The closest that a wind turbine is typically placed to a home is 300 meters or more. At that distance, a turbine will have a sound pressure level of 43 decibels. To put that in context, the average air conditioner can reach 50 decibels of noise, and most refrigerators run at around 40 decibels.

 

[sidcow]

19 minutes ago, limpid said:

And ye people live by railways.

Moved by (99% of the time) an existing railway and chose to do so. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by sidcow

[bickster]

7 hours ago, sidcow said:

Moved by (99% of the time) an existing railway and chose to do so. 

So if you choose to live there you don’t hear the noise? 
 

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

So if you choose to live there you don’t hear the noise? 
 

Of course you do but it's part of the deal you signed up to, it's not been imposed on you subsequently. Not. Sure what's hard to understand about this. 

The yang to all this is that my best mate, when we were growing up his house backed right on to The Cross City Line. Trains every 10 minutes minimum all day and loads of night freight traffic. 

If I stayed over the occasional night it would really disturb my sleep but when his parents went on holidays we'd take over the house and I'd stay all week.  By the end of the week I would barely notice the trains. 

[Genie]

Do people who live closest to the wind turbines get cheaper electricity? Maybe that’s a decent compromise.