Hi Mark
It was brilliant to read your email. Thanks so much.
What I have been on about since the 1990s is this:
QUESTION:
When the authorities have built a principal mainline railway between Derby, Dudley and Devon or, Burton on Trent, Brierley Hill and Bristol but, in the middle, a 56 Kms length of double track railway line is there but not used, what would you do with those unused railway lines, Mark?
ANSWERS to choose from:
(a) Cycles and for walking, horse riding?
(b) 22 mph average speed trams that stop more frequently than buses?
(c) Commuter/regional/intercity passenger trains and for freight trains?
(d) Trees and shrubs?
(e) Fresh air?
The experts have chosen a, b, d and e. What would you choose, Mark?
You wrote, "Public transport is obviously central to the CO2 reduction plans."
Does that mean building £100 billion HS2, £15 billion Metro network and £1 billion Sprint network?
Or, does it mean using that money for urgent retrofitting and modal shift to the workhorse of public transport, the bus. Plus, car commuters rewarded with leaving their cars at home with bus-priority measures, AND the Fare-Free Public Transport that I've had for 15 years?
See you Monday.
Tim
PS bonus from my mentor and hero!
ME: The more we spend, the more we burn fossil fuels, it seems to me. Have I got this right? SELF, 16 February 2019
PORRITT: “More or less right! … ”
"Just one caveat: as we decarbonise our grid, we’ll obviously be burning rather less of the reserves of remaining fossil fuels, and relying more on green electrons. But the rule of thumb still holds for the time being!" SIR JONATHON PORRITT, 17 Feb 2019On Fri, 24 Mar 2023 at 16:39, Mark richards <markrobsearby64@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Tim, I hope you’re well, apologies for the delay in replying, it’s partly that I’ve been on a break and not looking at my emails and partly that this issue is so complex that I don’t have time to engage my head in it fully.
I appreciate your commitment to it and your ability to hold all of that detail (!!!) but I have to admit that I get a bit lost with it.
I didn’t want to be ignoring you.
I am clear that it’s madness to create all those miles of transport and not link up to Stourbridge Junction, which has direct trains to London and out to Worcester and beyond.
I also agree with you that it’s lunacy not to use existing lines for any new transport links.
The rest of the detail I’m not so familiar with, but it’s clear that you’ve studied it all.
I think that it’s going to be tough changing their plans at this stage.
It might be possible to open a dialogue with them about protecting and replanting the green spaces.
At the moment my spare time is taken by Friends of the Earth projects around climate change, retro fitting of houses (Warm Homes campaign) and plastic.
Public transport is obviously central to the CO2 reduction plans.
I looking forward to seeing you at Scrutiny on Monday.
All the best,
Mark
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment