Crystal clear waters v Smog of confusion, dissembling and waste

Crystal clear waters v Smog of confusion, dissembling and waste

Last week, it was the cleaness of a Scottish loch that enabled my wife and I to see clearly to the bottom.  For the first time, Roy and I looked down through crystal clear, deep waters of an English canal to also see the bottom. 

We had biked it to the entrance of Dudley Tunnel at Parkhead Locks - the canal tunnel, this time not the railway tunnel.  It reminded me of the nearby wasted railway "of national strategic significance" that uses the 150 year old Parkhead Viaduct that has not a brick out of place.

The authorities want the commuter and regional trains back on the 120 Kms railway from Worcester, through the Black Country to Derby but insist that only by spending £343 m plus cost overruns on turning 6.7 Kms into a tram line can the regional trains be achieved to complete the full 120 Kms.  That is their confusion.

The dissembling arises from our politicians and transport VIPs telling me that passenger and freight trains will still be able to be used alongside the six to ten trams every hour and every day.  Yet, they know there is only one set of double tracks that cannot be quadrupled.  To put it more baldly: they are lying to us.

The waste of taxpayers' money comes from these same politicians and experts using our money to pay twice to get the trains back through the heart of the congestion choked and densely populated Black Country.  In fact, rising £400 million for the two short sections of tramline blocks for ever the return of commuter and regional trains to deal with the increasing popularity of train travel and ever slower motorway travel.