tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post4920588389383182876..comments2023-11-05T08:46:06.975+00:00Comments on IDLE: Let Them Dig DitchesIdlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16633477263913264410noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-40232225045000984792013-01-29T13:29:18.334+00:002013-01-29T13:29:18.334+00:00It won't even be Dimitar or Gheorghe.
I gath...It won't even be Dimitar or Gheorghe. <br /><br />I gather that the route will be straight for the most part, in which case sophisticated Austrian machinery will be used rather than gangs of navvies. <br /><br />Much of the money will go to lawyers and consultants. Electro-Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18073103431166273080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-28691309729865405942013-01-28T15:30:50.146+00:002013-01-28T15:30:50.146+00:00By the time this project is completed (probably 7 ...By the time this project is completed (probably 7 or more years later then originally planned and at 3 times the originally estimated cost), it really will be a white elephant as the technology in use - no doubt not too dissimilar to today's - will be way out of date. It is entirely possible/likely that a completely different form of propulsion will be the norm in 2040. For example, Maglev and monorail development is forging ahead in leaps and bounds all over the world and such systems entail much less desecration and intrusion into the country lanes of olde England than the construction of a 500 mile (oops, 800 km) long, 100 ft (sorry, 30 metre) wide track which will require constant and expensive maintenance by gangs of labourers.<br /><br />Happily, I shall be long gone by the time this excrescence joins the rusting windmills blighting our once beautiful countryside. I pity the next couple of generations who are going to have to foot the bill, on top of all the debt (and interest) our sordid government(s) have already imposed on them. One thing is certain: like the Channel tunnel, it will never ever pay for itself.Extremely ancient seafarernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-75963667423547318652013-01-28T14:44:55.685+00:002013-01-28T14:44:55.685+00:00I agree it's bonkers. There is some figure as...I agree it's bonkers. There is some figure as to the proportion of Heathrow capacity which is used by UK internal flights, a large chunk of them are to Edinburgh. HS2 only goes halfway to Edinburgh. Fail.<br /><br />It's going to open in twenty years time. That rather lacks in ambition. Plus all the stuff which might happen because there is a faster line from London to Manchester/Leeds won't happen for another twenty years. Fail.<br /><br />The backstop excuse is that we need additional capacity and it may as well be built to modern best practice standards. But we won't have the additional capacity for another twenty years by which time £80 for a seat will look cheap. Fail.<br /><br />I thought the M6 Toll took long enough from drawing board to actually opening, but this is absurd! The M1 was built in about five minutes. What has happened to this blasted country?Blue Eyesnoreply@blogger.com