Ref. Tele\policy05
The Daily Telegraph 16/0903 unpublished
A trivial event

You report that a missing rail derailed a train outside Kings Cross and caused hours of delay to perhaps 100,000 people illustrating, if ever it needed illustrating, that rail is one of the most fragile modes of transport known to man. Why, even a falling birds nest may short the system for hours. That is why Railtack/Network Rail was, at one time, installing plastic hawks above the gantries. In contrast road transport is robust to schoolboy pranks, birds nests, the wrong sort of snow, leaves on the line and hot days.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs who read your newspaper may be entertained to know that every track-km of the national rail network is costing the exchequer £150,000 per year when every lane-km of the motorway and trunk road system is paying the Exchequer £200,000. We comment, if one of those entrepreneurs were to acquire the network and to convert it to a motor road system manage do avoid congestion (only £12 billion needed), not only would he make may times that in profit, but all London Commuters would have seats at one quarter the cost of the train, the development potential of many thousands of acres of derelict railway land would be realised and lorries would at last transfer to the rights of way hitherto occupied by steel rails.

That has been apparent these last 50 years. Perhaps now is the time.

Show All Articles for: Letters