We've had some fun on the comments pages revolving around Sturminster Newton, the SRG, rail revival and even the difficulty for rail revival of houses built on OUR trackbed.
Mick Knox, as always spot on, came up with this -
Any houses built at Sturminster on the trackbed will be blighted before they are even finished. As they will be modern it won't take long to knock them down anyway. And if you don't believe that will ever happen, it has been done before, to new build near Worksop. Goods and people need to travel and the price for being totally dependent on oil is being in Iraq and Afghanistan, so it is a high price we are paying. We should be investing in alternatives, and rail is that future, so sometime soon the pressure to re-open will be too great to ignore. Just say it kicks off in Iran, what then for the world's supply of oil from the gulf area? Imagine the panic back in 2000 during the fuel protests, but this time it would be so much worse. Sort of changes things a bit, doesn’t it?
And I added -
However things pan out - whether oil wars precipitate matters, whether we just get sidelined as China and India grab all the oil or if it's a slow decline into an oil-less future, the outcome will be the same. Crumbling roads, less of us able to run cars and a huge scramble to get lines reopened and totally new routes built.
To be fair to some of the nostalgic posters here, until you've had your 'Peak Oil' moment, when suddenly the future becomes clear, this may all seem a little strange. But once you've had it, the way things are being done now - with houses still being seriously proposed on lines that will need to be opened soon, and even a few road schemes STILL being suggested, and bail-outs of car companies - once you've had it most of what's being done today will seem far stranger!
The need to shift from an oil importing economy to a sustainable energy-independent economy is getting more vital every day. The New S&D is an important part of that process. I'm sorry if that upsets some (pre-Peak Oil moment) readers, heritage railway fans and petrolheads, but that's just the way it is.
3 comments:
Reminds me of the 10 odd houses constructed on the Elmers End/Croydon line when it closed in 1983, only to be demolished less than 10 years later when they built the Tramlink.
You've got to wonder why, given the strategic importance of closed lines, there isn't a national body making sure that local authorities actually respect PPG13. It's no good if one local authority decides to protect the right-of-way, only for the neighbouring authority to allow development and therefore lose the integrity of the route.
because there are powerful anti rail figures in this country with money finding loop holes to continually build on trackbed and encourage network rail to sell off everything and contine to beat the modern railway back to the core. the relentless lifting of sidings and rationalisation will continue. The goverment wants the 20 billion subsidy reduced, and therefore network rail do not have money to do anything except essential renewals and capacity enhancements on the very core uk routes. overcrowding and fares will continue to rise and freight and sidings will be a distant memory in 15 years time. the railways are screwed and we all know it, thats why we live in our little nostalgic bubbles trying to enjoy the past we miss, during our lives
Wow! Someone's posting to the wrong blog!! Great for a laugh, and I giggle at 70s nostalgia as much as the next person, but I can spot an ironic wind-up when I see one.
Good try, but was it really worth the effort?
You are Michael Draper and I claim my £10!!
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