Thurday 7th November

The question, of course, would be altered by supporters by the addition of the word not after the we.  I am by inclination a supporter of railways, and a great advocate for their improvement.  You only have to travel in Europe to see the brilliant high-speed railways, and the trip to Paris by Eurostar is one of the most relaxing ever devised.

However, one does have to ask ‘Can we afford it’; especially with the still massive annual deficit, and even greater ballooning national debt.  And if it means a choice between benefit and NHS cuts or a new High Speed railway I am afraid that HS2 will have to wait.  Or maybe be rethought.  How can it be possible that a new rail-line to Birmingham (hardly a long way away) can cost so much?  Would the money not be better spent, in the short-term at least, on improving the existing pretty extensive rail network.   One thing one notices in France is that the trains are much longer.  Recently I travelled on a cross-country route and there were only two carriages and we were packed in like sardines.  Apparently Network Rail charges the Train Operating Companies by the number of carriages.

Actually the more one thinks about it the whole funding and running of the railways needs to be re-thought.  Bidding process or not, once a franchise has been awarded it becomes a monopoly at least for a few years.  And of course you couldn’t have rival companies running trains on the same lines, but why do they have to be private companies at all.  And despite appearances the Railways are still massively subsidized anyway; the money just goes to private companies.  So, an awful lot for any new Government to consider, and then there is the Airport expansion question.  Huge sums of money will be required, and who knows how much will be needed to help the ailing NHS or schools by then too.

But then of course, if we don’t do it, future generations may have to, and it will undoubtedly cost a hell of a lot more by then.