Letter: Time for a real rail revamp
Letter: We need a new rail network with higher capacity. Double width, double height, the jumbo jets of the rail network, capable of carrying containers side by side and stacked two up the length and breadth of the country along with perhaps thousands of passengers at a time.
Letter: Lord Adonis announces a high speed rail link to be built by 2015. Big deal.
What is the obsession with high speed trains by people in positions of power who clearly have no vision of the real future needs of this country.
What we need is a new rail network with higher capacity. Double width, double height, the jumbo jets of the rail network, capable of carrying containers side by side and stacked two up the length and breadth of the country along with perhaps thousands of passengers at a time.
The current system is still based on the size of two horses side by side pulling a cart, which was what everyone was using when railways were invented so it seemed a logical design.
Our roads too are based on two horses pulling a Roman chariot. We have moved on, the rail system hasn't. Focusing only on speeding up just a single line is about as good as putting a Jaguar engine in a Morris Minor, quicker but still low capacity therefore useful to only a few people.
It reminds me of Concorde. This needs to be an all-party effort so that no matter which party governs the country the project carries on. The long-term benefits are clear: Reduced congestion on the roads, reduced maintenance need- ed for the roads, lower traffic volume on the roads so reduced pollution.
Do a really great job and make travel on rail affordable too; it's still cheaper to hire a chauffeur-driven luxury minibus to take you and your family to London and back than to take the train.
Michael Wilkinson
Ketley
