Transport In The North

[SimonMac]

HS3 rail link needs 'kick-starting', report concludes - BBC News

Again lots of positive noise but half of the £300m has already been announced so not new news, and although the electrification of the train line, and widening of the M62 would have a much needed impact, can you imagine the nightmare that would exist while the upgrades take place?!

I go from Leeds to Warrington, a trip of 64 miles and one that regularly takes 2 hours + and it is motorway for all except the first and last two miles, most of the delay is due to the current "upgrading" of the motorway, unless a clear second major route across the Pennines exist (Snake Pass does not count) then things will never get better, I would love to take the train, but again the trains are slow and over crowded (I wonder how many Southerners know what a "Pacer" is?). Its a sad state of affairs when it would be quicker to get to London by train than current gig

/Rant

[SueEllen]

There are more people in London so we didn't have pacers. We use to have slam door trains until the EU, bless them, out lawed them so they were phased out on the lines I use in the mid-00s for being unsafe.

I remember getting on a fast train and if it stopped at a station that it wasn't destined to with a platform someone would then jump off. This would set of an alarm so the guard would walk up and down the train looking for the culprit. The station staff, if there were any, would be alerted as well. Then someone would have to go and see if the culprit was on the tracks.

Then we wouldn't move for the next half an hour in case the culprit had fallen on the tracks. This lead me to the practise of starting work early and leaving early so least I had a chance of getting to work and home at a reasonable time.

Now we just suffer very over crowded trains. Far more than when I've been on overcrowded trains on the North.

[NigelJK]

most of the delay is due to the current "upgrading" of the motorway,

I notice the 'overrunning roadworks' cause severe delays again this morning.

[Uncle Albert]

Anything that means I can get to Leeds from London quicker is a good thing.
Anything that keeps Warrington far away from Leeds is a good thing.

To summarise, it's a good thing.

[DimPrawn]

(I wonder how many Southerners know what a "Pacer" is?).

Of course we know what a Pacer is!

[SimonMac]

There are more people in London so we didn't have pacers. We use to have slam door trains until the EU, bless them, out lawed them so they were phased out on the lines I use in the mid-00s for being unsafe.

I remember getting on a fast train and if it stopped at a station that it wasn't destined to with a platform someone would then jump off. This would set of an alarm so the guard would walk up and down the train looking for the culprit. The station staff, if there were any, would be alerted as well. Then someone would have to go and see if the culprit was on the tracks.

Then we wouldn't move for the next half an hour in case the culprit had fallen on the tracks. This lead me to the practise of starting work early and leaving early so least I had a chance of getting to work and home at a reasonable time.

Now we just suffer very over crowded trains. Far more than when I've been on overcrowded trains on the North.

We are not talking overall spend, per head more is spent in the South than the North too

[BoredBloke]

Northern rail use Pacers. They are slow, noisy, inefficient dirty and well past their intended stop gap life span. They were introduced as a temporary measure by BR to update their rolling stock. They are essentially bus bodies mounted on trains. I traveled into Manchester on one on Saturday. It was standing all the way. As that was mid afternoon on a Saturday I'd imagine the over crowding would be worse in the rush hour. People in London seem to assume that they are the only ones who suffer from overcrowding on public transport. Yet it is those in the South East who get the vast majority of transport funding. We get the electrification of a line and a wider motorway. London gets Crossrail 2

[PurpleGorilla]

Relocate all of government to Hull.

[LondonManc]

Commuters tend to drive more in the north because public transport is pants and there's generally not an alternative route.

In London, if I want to get from Stratford to Bond Street, I can go direct by the Central Line or by the Jubilee Line if there's a problem on the Central Line. There is no second option for people in, say, Greater Manchester for getting from Sale to Prestwich. You're on that one Metrolink route and that's it. Even with the second crossing through Manchester city centre, you're still stuck with going through the city centre. Bury and Rochdale are five miles apart and 10 and 14 miles away from Manchester respectively. However, you have to go all the way into Manchester city centre and back out. It's quicker on the bus (but you have to brave going through Heywood!)

In terms of contract work, Leeds as an option for me is borderline; the rates would have to be excellent. In the future, if there's a 40 minute train from Mcr to Leeds, it's then a much more viable option.

[Bluenose]

Relocate all of government to Hull.

+1

I would prefer Liverpool as its more easily defensible in time of war.