How many times have you heard this?...
"Usual queues this morning on the M25 junctions 5-3....M6 in Southbound congested between junctions 12 and.....M62 in Cheshire tailbacks due to clockwise M60 queueing between junctions 9 and 17....
Without putting words into your mouths I would imagine your answer would be two or three or more times per week...the same problems in the same places at the same times every day. Of course the three examples above are not isolated, I could have included the M1 the M4 the M8 and many numerous A roads nationwide.
It seems strange that in the times we live in where every minute of every day seems to be judged on whether it has been productive that as a society we seem prepared to waste so much time staring at the break lights of the vehicle in front.
So we look to our leaders for some plan, some light at the end of the Blackwall or Bryn tunnels.
The master plan seems to be a new train line...Yes...one...train line.
Admittedly its a fast one which will cut journey times between London and Birmingham by 20 minutes...in around 10-15 years...
That's not all...this one track will then head towards Crewe and Sheffield...20 years...possibly even Glasgow and Edinburgh by the time I'll be getting my birthday telegram from King George...
And as if that excitement wasn't enough there is now talk...yep...talk of an East/West track between Liverpool and Hull....I don't think I will see that one...
So , what do we do in the meantime? We sit...and wait in the same places at the same time every day.
Not that anyone will ask me and the few people who read this blog don't include, as far as I am aware planners or transport workers, but here are my thoughts.
The cost of this single track is reputed to be around 50billion pounds at completion. Eye watering figures. So firstly I would reduce the amount by 8billion, the amount needed to help the NHS to survive, leaving 42 billion to sort out not one track but a whole attitude towards transport. If I may I will use myself as an example of what I mean.
I had to go to a meeting a few weeks ago 35 miles from where I live.
I had to travel through one of the examples at the start of this blog and it took me two and three quarter hours to travel 35 miles.
So as I was sat there wondering how the driver in front could get his finger that far up his nose I instead began to think of an alternative...what if I had got the train? This was the outcome...
I live just over 2 miles from my nearest railway station, so a 40 minute walk...how about a bus? I hear you shout...well, because of my local bus companies narrow thinking I would have to get 2 buses to get to my station and they don't start to run until around 7...way too late for me...oh and they stop at 5:30 at night...
So a walk it is...when I arrive at my station I can get a train direct to either Liverpool or Manchester I can even get a train to Norwich, 5 hours away if I so desired...but a train to my two local towns? Nah...
So I would get on the train to Manchester, only 1 an hour to the main Manchester station. Thirt five minutes later I am in Manchester...now to the Tram...or rather 2 trams as my meeting destination is on a different line...so the 3 or 4 mile journey could take half hour or more...and then I would have it all to look forward to on my return journey....with all the walking and waiting it would have taken me around the same length of time as in the car...that shouldn't be the case and isn't, in my opinion right.
What could improve? Well I believe it is firstly an attitude problem, public transport services are not public and are not a service, they are a business hence why there are no buses from parts of my town to the station, why? Because apparently most people have cars...can you begin to see potential issue here?
Being a business is also the reason why there are not enough trains and 2 sardine carriages an hour is more cost effective than 3 comfy ones every half hour...you can almost hear the millions of car doors slamming and engines starting up can't you?
But what if public transport really was a service? With flexible timetables, bus companies and authorities talking to train companies about timetables and demand...train networks looking at re opening some of the local branch lines left to rot following the first edition of narrow minded thinking in the 60s involving DR Beeching.
With this thinking I could bus,train and tram in half the time and be more productive for my company...
I can hear the calls now of we can't afford this...we still have 42 billion left...and the cost saved in time for business and individuals pays for itself...because I for one would hardly drive at all if this were to happen and the travel news would be that there would be no travel news...
Ah well back to reality and the suspense of whether his finger will exit his nose without causing any permanent damage.
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