Westminstenders: War and Weirdos

[RedToothBrush]

With weirdos set to run No10 and Trump seemingly having started a new war in the Middle East, 2020 already looks set to be a cracking year.

To start off your year, it turns out that chinese curse about interesting times is actually a fallacy...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times

Happy New Year.

May we make 2030...

Looking at the OS map, the problem with upgrading the freight line is immediately apparent - all the stations have gone. Its clear by the names Station Road that they were there once, but one station on the route at Bedlington is now the Library and Ashington's station seems to have completely disappeared to be replaced by warehouse type shops. Blythe looked to have a spur anyway, and not a connection to the main line. The nearest station now to Blythe is at North Tyneside. Now I wouldn't say the stations can't be replaced but the Tory Government is going to have to do a complete about turn and stump up real money.

I know that locally between Swindon and Didcot the stations disappeared and even when the buildings are still there, they have gone into private ownership or else the land they were on has been built on, so new sites for stations would need to be found.

If BJ wants his WA on the 31st .....
he'd better reassure the EP - who have to approve the WA - that rights of E27 citizens will be protected

Especially if he wants to negotiate anything more than a bare bones tariff & quotas deal with the EU afterwards

The problem with playing to the gallery and talking tough about E27 expats is that most E27 politicians can read English, or have assistants who do so for them.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/07/eu-parks-post-brexit-demands-avoid-early-clash-boris-johnson-ursula-von-der-leyen

The European parliament will express its “grave concern” about the attitude of Boris Johnson’s government to the 3.3 million EU citizens living in the UK
following threats of deportation made by a British minister.

In a leaked resolution drafted by the main political groups and due to be backed by MEPs next Wednesday,
Johnson’s administration is accused of creating “anxiety” in recent months.

Looking at the OS map, the problem with upgrading the freight line is immediately apparent - all the stations have gone

A lot of railway property was sold off to developers who made a nice profit out of it.

Also, I would question the long term future of the railway netword as we know it given that in 10 years time the autonomous vehicle might make trains less attractive.

It would be almost typical of the UK to pump a lot of money into rail as the rest of the world pulls out. (I can see a bunch of dozy Tories telling us that they've secured a bargain on trains as everybody seems to be selling theirs).

I would bet my lunch that no one at the rail side of the Department of Transport even knows where the people on the road side of things is based. Let alone is in regular contact. And as for either of them being remotely aware of the existence of the Department of Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills ... I would be surprised.

Joined up government ? A little bit foreign Rossetti, wouldn't you say. What's wrong with the way we've always done it ? Hasn't done us any harm so far, has it ?

• Er when you say "us" sir, who do you mean ?

-Well myself, Buffy, Buffys friends. Charles, his family. We've all done well as things are. After all, you don't change horses in midstream do you, young ....er whatsyername ?

PM

Do you ever read your own links Clavinova?
You have referenced a contingency plan to “to transport small consignments of medicines” to keep supplies going over Brexit. How far do you think £25 million is going to go?

Yes - always. We already know that medicines and critical supplies are being re-routed (if necessary) to avoid Dover-Calais - at least 7 alternative ports with ro-ro facilities were chosen over a year ago.

Also from my link:
"The announcement came just days after the Department for Transport announced it had awarded contracts worth £86.6m to three ferry companies to transport critical supplies including medicine into the UK after Brexit."

"The ferries contracted through the DfT framework will run in any Brexit scenario – whether or not a withdrawal agreement is struck with the EU."

"In contrast, DHSC’s freight contracts will be used on an as-needed basis. Companies and care providers will use them to order supplies at short notice, and will be able to choose how they are transported – for example, by air or sea."

"And unlike the DfT contracts, the health department’s freight service will deliver supplies door to door."

TatianaLarina - you obviously still believe that the UK will be under seige - have you drunk your stockpile of uht milk yet?

These were the ferry companies, one of which had no ships, if I remember right/

Locally, the volunteers relaid the Swanage line all the way to Wareham, then the govt. demanded several million quid connection charge.

I don’t have a stockpile. You seem to have no more grasp of the reality of hard Brexit impact on medications than in our last discussion Clav. It’s still the same posting of random links proving you have completely failed to comprehend the scale of the problem.

If the lorries coming off ferries get stuck at Dover, radioisotopes with short half lives will be unusable.

Short notice as needed air freight is not enough, to guarantee supply you’d need a long term supply infrastructure by air. (The reason this is not being planned is because it’s far too expensive).

The Waverley line in the Borders cost £10m a mile, so this £500m commitment is good for 50 miles of track. This should cover Blyth to Ashington because that's only 5 or 6 miles, but then what about the rest?

There is a desire to continue the Waverley line to Carlisle where it originally ran to, which is 60 miles, so that's all the £500m budget blown. What colour rosette does the MP in Carlisle wear? I think this will govern where the spending is allocated.

Reversing Beeching cuts

“It depends what’s happened to the railway since it closed. If it’s still there, and it’s a matter of upgrading and reopening a freight line, that is the cheaper option, but you’ve still got to spend money on the stations.

Which confirms what I said about stations.....

However, I recall, we have had enough of experts, so what does his opinion count for?

I see also the Chiltern Line, now running from Marlybone to Oxford (run by DB) cost £320 million. (This incidentally has helped Oxford to lose a bus service - the X90 was due to stop at the beginning of the year because of competition from this line and traffic congestion in London. DD used to use the X90 when commuting to London, the new rail line would be no good for her, living south of Oxford, but she's moved anyway.)

I wonder what rate of return will be demanded on that £500m ? Also what the T&Cs will say.

When the M6 toll was legislated, the operators were specifically permitted to apply surge pricing. They also had a stated business aim of preventing heavy loads using it (hence the ludicrous HGV fees). Private Eye published an operating statement to investors when it was first opened noting that if heavy loads started using it, pricing was to be increased until they stopped.

The only good thing about the M6 toll is that is put private road builders off the UK for a generation.

I see also the Chiltern Line, now running from Marylebone to Oxford

One of Brums best kept secrets. I've asked for your post to be deleted so nobody gets any ideas that it's too good for us. I'm sure you'll understand

In the light of recent events, I wonder if air travel is going to continue to be the focus of environmental concerns ?

Normally the loss of a 737 with the death of so many passengers would be rolling coverage. I find it quite alarming that it isn't having the same intensity of coverage that it would do.

Closed railway lines .....
Waterside in Hampshire ....
whole residential redevelopment of Fawley power station depends on decent transport links
but Fawley Oil refinery now straddles the old route
and they do not want passenger trains going through ....

I think there needs to be an anxiety trigger warning on these threads
Don’t be daft.

Normally the loss of a 737 with the death of so many passengers would be rolling coverage. I find it quite alarming that it isn't having the same intensity of coverage that it would do.

Maybe it's being normalised ? After all, during the WW2 we've been reminded was so glorious I'm pretty certain bombings were simply summarised ?

After all, didn't the Russians shoot down airliner MH17 in 2014, and little has happened ?

Also the US has a long and proud history of shooting down unarmed civilian airliners - I can remember en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655 even if others have forgotten.

Another 737 story

www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/08/boeing_737_ng_cockpit_screen_blank_bug/

If the lorries coming off ferries get stuck at Dover, radioisotopes with short half lives will be unusable.

They won't be going through Dover. There are new priority ferry services arranged between 'quiet' ports.

It's really not so much of a worry as it was last March.

The reason this is not being planned is because it’s far too expensive

It really isn't 'far too expensive'. And the infrastructure's already there. Freight forwarders are already geared up to expect extra workload.

Brexit is like a baby ....
We've had the morning sickness and pregnancy stages
Delivery is imminent
then we have 18 years of it monopolising our lives till it leaves us in peace

No LQ, it'll be a case of failure to launch, hanging out at parents well into its 30s and then palming off the grand kids to Nan.

@Fishes

Nuclear medicine supply chains are built around lorries from the Channel. These operate on tight schedules (bearing in mind of the million or so nuclear medicine tests carried out per year 85% use isotopes with a 6 hour half life). To reorganise this would be a substantial, expensive and lengthy process, which cannot be contemplated until the shape of the Brexit deal is clear.

And the infrastructure's already there.

Nope. Matt Hancock has plans to bring in isotopes by plane - but this is only a contingency measure. The UK's major radioisotope suppliers have committed to only 6 month air freight contracts.

To fly rather than drive isotopes long term will require new infrastructure, planning and a lot more money.

Btw are you not aware how much more expensive it would be to fly all our isotopes rather than transport by road?

Can't we just BeLeave the radioisotopes into having longer half-lives?