I did the Building an Ark line a couple of weeks ago, which
is a pity, because today would have worked just as well for it.
The flooding down towards Brighton really mucked my day up
as two of my three London meetings this morning got pulled because people were
staying towards the South Coast. (Kudos to the guy who still made it despite
having the furthest to come - who found a route to London from Worthing via
Horsham, and other odd places, like Timbuktu or something.)
I didn't know until today that there is a plan to build a
second main rail line to Brighton – known imaginatively as BML2*. I don’t do the
Brighton journey often, but it is usually – to coin one of my dad’s phrases “hoaching ”. This is a plan that would reopen track that Dr Beeching took away and looks
quite sensible.
Like many people, I am struggling with the £50 billion cost of HS2 for
getting to Birmingham twenty minutes quicker - whatever Kojak thought. [Inset your own joke about how
much you would pay not to go to Birmingham at all here.] And I see why all
possible governments want to spend money outside the South East where they can.
But it does feel like there are some great opportunities like this – more local
projects which would relieve congestion, or open up whole new public transport
options.
For example, there have been plans for years to extend the Croydon
Tramlink, which have been stalled due to money. And yet this is a system that
works – come rain or snow. Not admittedly come wholesale arson in Croydon in the
2011 riots but nothing’s perfect. And it allows people to get to and from otherwise
very disconnected places.
So, dear reader, let me know. We have £50bn to spend on
transport. Let me have your bids.
* The BML2 website also has a page called “Why avoid East
Croydon”. Hmmmm, how long have you got?
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