This was the scene on the main Midsomer Norton to Radstock road this morning!
And all because this lorry decided to park.
Any of us who is unfortunate to have to use roads regularly know they simply don't work. They were made for a different age and their time is almost over.
We need to start switching most if not all freight to the railways over the next decade or so. This will help preserve energy supplies and improve the urban and rural environment. Road space should free up a little, particularly when petrol prices really begin to soar. But at the end of the day what everybody will soon be clamouring for is new railways and tramways.
Radstock and Midsomer Norton have a joint population of over 25,000. Even without Peak Oil this is a ludicrously large area to be without proper public transport. Although what we are doing at Midsomer Norton won't be serving a genuine transport purpose (at least until we reach Chilcompton proper) we need to be aware that the switch in emphasis towards Radstock will begin to see the creation of a genuine new transport route. I'm sure that as soon as we triumphantly return to Radstock all the talk will be of returning to Bath. Midsomer Norton to Bath will be an essential transport link, my biggest fear is that line capacity (particularly once we're carrying freight) will soon be all taken up and we may even need to consider a second route to Bath (via Limpley Stoke and the old Camerton line at Midford) thanks to the near impossibility of doubling between Midford and Bath.
1 comment:
It wasn't really a success as it was designed for a totally different reason, as an alternative access to some of the coal mines in the area. We'd only look at it as an alternative route to ease congestion on the single line section from Midford to Bath, not as a passenger or heritage operation as such. It may be of course that a restored Radstock-Bristol route would also serve the same purpose of reducing congestion north of Radstock. At the very least the Bristol-Frome line will need to be restored between Bristol, Whitchurch and Pensford (short of the viaduct), and this may well encourage attempts to restore back to Radstock. Certainly some on the S&D Board favour the restoration of this route throughout.
Trains will be popular in the decades to come simply because there won't be any other realistic option for the vast majority of us. Even today rail use is increasing beyond the capacity of the network, well before we aee real Peak Oil/Cimate Change effects coming into play. We're hoping to avoid the scramble to rebuild lines by getting in early! Otherwise capital, labour and material resources will dry up in many areas.
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