Mopar Muscle Association UK

I can't see any govt committing the amount of money necessary to sort out public transport. Especially now the bankers have flushed it all!

db wrote:I can't see any govt committing the amount of money necessary to sort out public transport. Especially now the bankers have flushed it all!

There is a lot more to it than that mate. Its not about spending the money now, its about developing a strategy, and committing to it. trouble is, Governments that do 4 year terms arent always keen to commit to projects that will provide benefits over a longer period - someone else might take credit. That is, unless there is a GE comming and its a vote winner just for getting the ball rolling.

You are absolutely correct Clivey.

My question is, why hasn't someone sorted out this fundamental planning error?

The Victorians invested in a massive railway network, okay it lost money, but now three quarters of the country wants the branch lines back because the roads are a shambles.

They also invested in massive sewerage and water systems that have been left to rot and not been updated, wasting water and ending up with hosepipe bans and other such nonsense.

If the person responsible for transport planning doesn't look ahead at least 50 years, regardless of party politics, they need their sorry arse booted out and someone recruited with the balls to do a proper job.

Sorry rant over!

50 years???

I can't see beyond 2 in my business, and most operate on a 12 to 18 month cycle. Long term planning is not in the mentality of most organisations, as things change so rapidly nowadays.

The "Brown Bess" rifle was in service over 200 years as the "leading technology".

Most things are obsolete before they come to market nowadays.....

Apart from the fact that you have highlighted one of the major problems that will continue to effect modern business as innovation and technolopgy continues to speed up at a rate faster than the world cab sensibly sustain it, you've picked up on something very interesting there Pete...automotive technology (as far as new vehicles are concerned) moves ahead at a hell of a pace too and because of that and they are being written off and scrapped due to what can be described as "technological damage".

If you have a new Mercedes or Lexus and say, run over a traffic island, it will rip the front suspension off, maybe damage the chassis leg, otherwise the car is serviceable and eminently repairable.... apart from the fact that the electronics, computerised systems and eleven air bags have gone off rendering repair uneconomical.

How can that be ecologically sound? It's a clear case that the manufacturer's really only care about bonus schemes, a quick buck and have no consideration for the future.

Can you tell that I'm writing a five and ten year automotive business strategy at the moment?

Well, to be honest, they are looking forward.


Believe it or not, the benefits afforded by the recent enhancements to the West Coast Main Line will be at saturation point by 2014. By 2024 the VAST majority of the railway netwrok taking into account future modernisation plans already given the green light, will be at capacity.

The problem cannot be solved by easing pinchpoints in the existing network. Back in the 70's the French SNCF committed to dedicated high speed lines with the TGV whereas we, decided to build a HST that could do 125mph on the existing infrastructure, therefore we wouldnt have to replace track, bridges, tunnels (pressure pulse is an issue with VHS trains) signalling etc. etc. We went on to try again with the APT-P, but the sad fact of the matter is that there was WAY TOO MUCH technology that had not been validated, stuffed on the train. The tilting mechanism was great, a derivative of it is now used on the Pendolino fleet, but the APT was plagued with teething problems and the press killed it off.


What we need is a totally NEW railway. Obtain land, and construct a purpose built very high speed (300-360kph) railway from London to Scotland. The whole system works as one with no compromises. This will take pressure off the WCML, ECML and Midland Mainline.



Sorry, I won't go any further, I'm boring myself.

Excellent Clivey, that's better news than I thought.

I noticed when I was flying down to Paris and back regularly a few years ago, that they built an entirely new railway (for the Eurostar) alongside the existing one, so a NEW railway isn't beyond the realms of comprehension.

Needless to say, I no longer drive to Paris, it's easier and much more relaxing on the train.

Clunkers to railway development...funny how these threads go

Well, at the moment, including the 66% uplift for poor planning that the DfT requires, estimates say that a brand spanking new VHSR from London and Heathrow up to the midlands will cost £11bn. Thats cheap.


Did you know the cost per mile of widening a motorway is £79m whereas the cost per mile to build a double track railway is £75m???



BARGAIN

I would like to see a breakdown of those costs...someone's getting fat on that!

Ivor, they are realistic figures. Obviously one linear mile of railway isnt going to cost 75 mil to install, but then again neither is one linear mile approaching a heavily urbanised area, where cuttings, bridges, tunnels etc. are required. Its pro rata'd as is the cost for motorway expansion.

Not sure if HS1 hit the original budget estimate or the one with the 66% uplift. Its hailed as a massive success for doing so all the same.

mmmh, okay, still seems high, but you're the boss.

I'll have 5,000 miles please!

this is all very good

get the infrastructure sorted and it will help

but the government, just as we the, general public still get played time and time again by the pseudo science peddled by the media.

much of the media is controlled and provided by people who come from an arts or creative background (lets tar the lot with a wide brush), who see science as boffinism. Authority figures in white coats with no social skills tell them science and therefore they have no need to understand it, have no idea how to appraise a scientific paper or indeed make any judgement about the validity of scientific evidence.
they choose the story's that sell the papers even when based on the most dubious evidence

this week EGGs are good for you again.... scientists got it wrong
last week antioxidents stop cancer. yes doses 1000 greater than a human could stand stopped 1 type of cancer in rat cells growing in a petri dish.....great...stick that in ya fruit juice and smoke it... Ok Mr media man we all will.
carrots make you see in the dark....no its a bit of dis information spread by churchills govt during the war as a method to distract the Germans (who could not work out how we could find submarines and cities in the dark) from the fact we got an enigma machine and hence coordinates.
but its still a topic that comes up dressed up a true scientific fact minute ammounts of a chemical in carrots are necessary for certain cells in the eye loads of other foods have this in. infact eating grass would probably still provide enough

the green house effect and global warming is much more complex than C02
nitrous oxide from the use of fertilisers is much worse. 10 x better at greenhouse effect than co2 ever could hope to be
methane the farting cows yes that's true but you only know it due to the farting reference. no mention of land fill and the modern humans propensity to make waste by the tonne per person per annum
but you won't hear about that in the media.

growing 3 trees to offset your holiday flight is not going to help. the tree will be burnt or rot in 30 years releasing its c02....these are pine trees fer godsake made into paper which ends up in landfill in in ten years time

those antioxidants in ya drink damage your immune system, they mop up free radicals which your white cells use to kill of bacteria
that MMR jab you didn't give your kids never caused autism... no evidence at all. The original paper and the man who wrote it discredited last year and disowned by the scientific community...did the papers or BBC apologise....no ..... but we are mid measles epidemic because too many people believed the bleeding daily mail (Tony and Cheri Blair included) and both measeles and mumps can cause brain damage. will anyone take the media to court for the sake of their damaged child....No

C02 and car emissions

Closing the stable door after the horse has not only bolted but spent a week in Vegas as well......with the lights on.

look to media idiocy and the throw away society we live in for the answer

all that rotten vegetation in the arctic circle now exposed thawed out and releasing C02 should be a bigger worry than a few old cars.

sorry its car club...i know

but that standby light on ya PC and the 2 layers of paper and plastic wrapping on those sarnies from the garage carry more of the blame in my book

Dave

Thank you Dave, we need more common sense people like you...ever considered journalism?

I would imagine a newspaper or news channel with real, accurate, well researched and truthful news has to be a winner.

The trouble is, we would all stop panicking and the government wouldn't be able to hype up some new ideas to tax us with.

I think the incredible rate of development in Indian and Chinese coal fired power stations is the area of blame.

If people would realise that building a brand new car uses ten times the energy and resources than that used to keep an old car running for so many years, perhaps we could see some sense...after all, the clunker law thing is nothing to do with ecology, it's all about kick starting the motor industry!

don't get me started on PAS 125 Ivor, its doing are head in at work .
sooner that flops the better, but i have to agree its just a money maker considering if you fail your inspection you get a hefty fine....


seat cover patrol here i come ....................................................

So you blokes all have to get ATA accredited to get PAS 125 and what's the betting that it will go the same way as BS 5750 and ISO 9000, where only the consultants got rich.

If your bodyshop gets the kitemark and expects to get a load of work on the back of it, I wouldn't hold your breath, the insurance companies are playing silly buggers with it already...