Monday 9 May 2016

Oh! Cocked up Beeching.


Yes, we've got wound up by more Change.org petitions. A simple search of this site brings up various 'Reopen The (Insert Quaint Name) Railway Immediately'. Now these are the titles of the petitions, the details are not important and admittedly don't really exist. 

They do no harm and if they get the public's response and make an impact all well and good. The issue is they simply don't. Often as 'Enthusiasts', the image is tainted with memories of Trespassing, Long Lenses, Step Ladders etc etc. Once this tarnished image is associated with a petition then its as dead as any duck that ever got close to Kings Cross.

The Borders Railway is and will be a success story that fueled theories that railways should be reopened wherever possible. We wholeheartedly agree, the issue is the amount of dead flotsam and jetsam from previous attempts to reopen the best of British railway lines still disappearing under new trunk roads and shambolic town planning.

The Borders Railway Project epitomises 'project planning' and getting as many knock backs as a Match.com joint meeting between an Ann Summers Group and Class 60 Appreciation Society. Carnage. But above it all, Gemma, 23 from Surrey and Bill, 56 from Toton somehow hit it off and in a few years welcome the birth of little Brush Junior and Kim Princess to the ultimate celebration of lucky breaks despite all the hidden Rail Magazines under the bed stacked against them. 

The Borders Project does however show a thorough foresight of the huge issues associated with opening railways in Britain.
Beeching Balls Up

We watch Beeching sympathisers say what he did to Britain's Railways was an undying necessity to save the Railways from themselves and Steam Train nutters. It was in fact the birth of Steam Train Nutters giving them plenty of miles of track to save, play trains and argue about for years to come.

The overriding issue with the closures was forward planning of saving infrastructure that could be put to good use for any other means later on. Railways that didn't wind there way through stunning National Parks were cut up and buried under tarmac and god awful bungalows. But hey, who can change this reckless cock up?

More people are travelling on our Railways and the answer seems to be HS2. Here is a can of worms called HS2, we are not going to open this can - just yet.

Mickey from High Wycombe writes a petition to call for the Aberystwyth to Camarthen line to be reopened immediately. What Mickey has done here is filed his petition under 'crap' immediately. The foresight Mickey must take is to galvanise his crusade with lobbying local MPs, build up a business case, look at the regional impact.. lets be honest, Mickey has  got bored and gone back to a Railway forum to point out flaws in someones photo of a HST. You stay there Mickey.

We urge you when writing up your Petitions to not take the Mick.

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