First Class HS2 for the Big Four; and second class high speed for the rest!

 

B L Tim Weller sorry, I think my point was badly illustrated. London was by far the largest urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom in 2020, with an estimated population of 9.3 million people, more than three times as large as Manchester, the UK’s second biggest urban agglomeration. The English cities of Birmingham and Leeds had the third and fourth largest populations respectively, while the biggest city in Scotland, Glasgow was the fifth largest. Therefore it stands to reason that most of the passengers on the current West Coast mainline will have no interest in stopping at Stoke or Wigan or wherever.... The current express services on the West Coast mainline sacrifice many of the stops in favour of speed. If you simply remove all of those London to Manchester passengers from the west Coast Mainline to their own dedicated route you can then just substitute all those express services to local stoppers, meaning more regular services to all those in-between stations. Like I said, it is about capacity, not speed. Doesn't it make logical sense to connect the 4 metropolis cities together? Thank you so much for this explanation that is clearer than what was offered up by Gareth Dennis or David Frankal. What you are saying is that the four biggest cities deserve to have a super-duper high-speed line because they have the largest populations and, therefore, must have the most passengers on the existing high-speed line.  The smaller 'in between' town and cities served by the present high-speed line will still have the existing trains and may even get more services. However, it will have to be a second-class high-speed service for them because the best, fastest and newest trains will be on HS2 services and be First Class High Speed. The problem is that the fewer passengers wanting to stop at the smaller towns and cities will feel they have been downgraded and may end up with fewer services each day because the majority of passengers from the Big Cities on the intercity trains will all be on First Class HS2.  That minority of second-class high speeders may feel left out and having been given second best.  And, their trains will still end up in Brum, Manchester, Leeds and London, anyway!  It reinforces the UK's class-ridden society that is not egalitarian by any stretch of the imagination. It is all about competing with the plane companies that already connect the four Big Cities.  It is all about attracting business away from planes onto rail.  Therefore, it does have to be about speed, every step of the way. And, the Big Four Metropolitan Cities are already very well connected and have been for over 150 years.  It is just that they want preferential treatment by not having irritating stops to delay them to their much more important destinations than the Wigans and Stokes of this world.  In other words, it is about speed and reinforcing our unfortunate, class-ridden mentality, and making for unnecessary duplication at a most colossal cost from even more greenhouse gases, to speed us all on our way to climate catastrophe and THE END.

Brum's inner ring road gone for a burton!

Brum's inner ring road gone for a burton!

We once had a free-flowing, successful and a complete inner ring road. A few years later, the councillors changed their minds and approved it being partly broken up. Where the ring road was demolished, it was replaced with traffic lights, one-way roads and traffic jams where you once had fast MOVING traffic!

Yet, more greenhouse gases to screw up the world's climates and more air pollution from the cocktail of poisonous gases our vehicles spew out.

3 Top Priorities for Dudley MBC

Councillors and officers must understand that the more they spend the more greenhouse gases (gg). Gg spending ONLY to cut them in the medium to long term. So cancel Metro extensions and use the money (billions!) to extend free public transport from my age group to yours.

Scrap Flood St leisure centre for small to modest-sized, highly insulated, solar-powered homes for rent and purchase in Dudley town centre.  Or, allow Dudley Muslim Association to buy the land for Dudley Central Mosque.

Deal with that major, strategic, 22 Kms Black Country Cycle/Walk Mudway to make it usable throughout and available for ALL fossil-fuel-free users. From Brierley Hill to NW Wolverhampton via Wombourne. Ideal for commuters to cut car use.

Now, the highest number of deaths from Covid in Europe - how true to type for Greater Than Ever Brexit Britain

Now, the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in Europe - how true to type for Greater Than Ever Brexit Britain

December 2019 to March 2020 to prepare for the vicious virus, the authorities - local, regional and national - twiddled their thumbs. They failed to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. Not a single thing, it seems. No contact tracing, no extra supplies of PPE, test kits and extra ventilators. But, plenty more austerity for the NHS and social care that had started in 2010.

From 1988, with the formation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to the present to prepare for the Really Big Crisis - NOTHING. Simply, business as usual. Evermore and everlasting finite fossil fool politicians and their officers. More deadly, catastrophic greenhouse gases. We are sleepwalking into a nightmare of our own prevarication and complacency.

Fare Free Public Transport

This is all excellent stuff, Bob. However, I am far more opposed to Metro trams and Sprint buses than you. I am opposed because of their gross extravagance and, therefore, high greenhouse gas emissions to worsen the climate crisis. The £15 billion going into trams replacing buses and trains, plus hundreds of millions for Sprint routes should be used for FFPT and for bringing in electric buses and trains. Both trams and Sprint complicate public transport with more changes, for example between bus and tram to get into the city centre from the west. Keep it simple with FFPT for all and, only electric buses feeding into and out of railway stations with their electric TRAINS (not trams!) instead of houses, offices, shops and cars on our remaining railway lines.

Life and death must never be the same again when its all over

Dear Ros and Cllr Chris - and everyone else who is interested

Every cloud has a silver lining; and, if you snooze you lose

You wrote, Ros, "When the time is right, we will look to resume our engagement with decision makers on the climate crisis and how we build a fairer, healthier and sustainable future for all."

I do think this is understandable.  However, I am so concerned at our society being up the creek without  a paddle ("to be in a serious quandary with little chance of a positive outcome").  Does our present predicament foreshadow when fossil fuels will be scarce and the climate emergency even more blindingly obvious?  Then, things will be ten times worse, won't they?  Therefore, we must work immediately towards that lower impact, fairer and more sustainable society where the rich help the poor, the strong help the weak and the advantaged help the disadvantaged.  And, where the old like me, give way, give preference to the young to enable them to thrive as we elders fade away and are gone.  We must continue to explain the uncomfortable realities of life and death, I think.  That does mean urgent engagement with everyone and especially decision makers.  And we are all decision makers, too of course.  We can each lead by example.

It seems, the virus crisis is making a small difference to the climate crisis and the reality of resource depletion, especially finite fossil fuels.  Highly dangerous greenhouse gases have dropped as air flights and movement by fossil fuels have lessened.  We are becoming more dependent on contact by phone and computer and on walking and cycling and, certainly no unnecessary travel now by public transport or, when it is all over, in cars.  Physical distancing still enables us to talk and to socialise at two metres when in the open air.

When the virus has eventually died out, we will all want to get back to how things were.  However, we must NOT, entirely.  I think that we must still restrain our use of fossil fuels and to minimise our dependency on them.  This is because we are fossil fuel junkies that is leading to climate catastrophe, Attenborough's "collapse of civilisations" and "extinction of much of the natural world" and "time is running out" warnings.  And he said that at COP 24 in December 2018, if I remember correctly.

Now is the time to live and campaign so that we permanently change our lifestyles to respond to the much greater climate emergency, the uncomfortable realities of resource depletion and unsustainable living and dying.

That wonderful Stourbridge Quaker and Green Party member, Joyce Millington, in the 1980s and 90s, was urging rationing of finite fossil fuels.  I think this is as urgent as ever when the virus has died out.  But our fast changing climates most definitely have not and are alive and well and changing for the worse, we are told.  I think we must have less social connectivity by hungry fossil fuels and more connectivity with nature and the uncomfortable realities of life.  Hence, these ideas:

 My ten point West Midlands plan for the new Gov...

 A5 flyer Feb 2020

But what do the rest of you think?  If we wake up, we may win!

Tim Weller

WMCA declaring a climate emergency is pointless and hypocritical without GREEN ACTION!

“The more we spend, the more we burn up fossil fuels, it seems to me.  Have I got this right?” SELF, 16 Feb 2019

“More or less right! … ”  SIR JONATHON PORRITT, 17 Feb 2019

For me, the first green action is to scrap pointless Metro expansion that involves, for five schemes, over £1.5 billion of fossil fuel burning to make for more ecocidal greenhouse gases, tipping points passed and extinction of all life.

Use the money to get Andy's wish: "the West Midlands will have the first clean bus fleet outside of London by 2021." 

FINISH with the widespread thinking that closed urban railway lines are for conversion to buildings, roads and tram lines.

Instead, urgent action on using our train lines for commuter and regional trains, not trams.

Scrap over £300 m Sprint diesels on only three routes and use Metro and Sprint money to urgently bring in fareless, ELECTRIC buses for all.

100% bus lanes on dual carriageways, traffic light priority for buses to speed them on their way at the expense of car commuters and car shoppers.  To free up road space for essential vehicles.

Reward, with payments those whose school run is on foot or cycle - or motorbike!

Upgrading every towpath and cycle-walkway to give them a hard, free draining, all weather surface for responsible shared use.

Every E,W, S facing roof to have PV panels to make the building a mini power station for free electricity.

Start thinking that maybe, it is as anti social jumping in the car or, burning natural gas and oil or, entering a plane, as those who smoke in public.

Lag yourself and your home.

OTHER THINGS TO DO:

 My Andy Street newsheet for him to copy!

Planet Earth turning into Planet Venus

D Poulton wrote about planet venus in your issue dated 1 November.  It is not producing heat that puts all life on earth in danger but producing greenhouses gases in the process of keeping ourselves warm and travelling, frequently, far and fast.  It is our prodigious burning of fossil fuels that puts us in danger.  All fossil fuels give off carbon dioxide that enhances the earth's natural protective greenhouse effect and is endangering all life on earth.  Venus is hotter than mars, even though it is nearly twice mercury's distance from the sun, because of its strong greenhouse effect.  Exactly what we humans are doing to planet earth; foolishly giving ourselves a runaway greenhouse effect and passing all tipping points!  Hence, the urgency of going low carbon in our life styles and, living sustainably.  But we are nowhere near doing that.

Tim Weller

​SOURCE is Wikipedia:

​"​The CO2-rich atmosphere generates the strongest greenhouse effect in the Solar System, creating surface temperatures of at least 735 K (462 °C; 864 °F).^[12][58] This makes Venus's surface hotter than Mercury's, ​​which has a minimum surface temperature of 53 K (−220 °C; −364 °F) and maximum surface temperature of 700 K (427 °C; 801 °F),^[59][60] even though Venus is nearly twice Mercury's distance from the Sun and thus receives only 25% of Mercury's solar irradiance.​​"  Wikipedia​

Make ALL our existing cycle/footways and towpaths fit for use by non-motorised transport - responsible shared use!

Such is the urgency of fighting ever increasing population growth; finite and climate changing fossil fuel burning; rising road and rail congestion; rising greenhouse gas emissions - and, obesity, we really do need to make all our existing cycle/footways and towpaths fit for use by non-motorised transport.

This alternative to the road and rail network for non-motorised transport is already in place but, mainly, well below par.  Especially, along our canals and in Woodgate Valley Country Park that are both ideal commuter routes for cycles.

They are a rip roaring success throughout Birmingham Westside, especially in the evenings when they are teeming with walkers and the occasional cyclist who, rightly gets slowed by all the pedestrians out of their cars and, unbelievably, exercising!

More car commuters could be encouraged to make the switch - but, the existing infrastructure must be made fit for purpose.

Turn the mudways into mud free, puddle free, non motor cycle/walkways and, widened to accommodate walkers and cyclists more safely.

Widened as was done, this year, to repair a wall on the Birmingham - Wolverhampton Canal near the Soho Loop in Hockley/Ladywood.  We now have a slightly lower, waters edge, towpath that cyclists are using and the upper towpath, that is ideal for walkers.  In my opinion, this widening is excellent and might be extended by removing vegetation and doing towpath widening everywhere else - as funding becomes available from abandoning expensive projects that switch only bus and rail users onto trams.

Why not a NE extension to the present, much improved Harborne Line Cycle/Walkway with a cutting dug, to a reinstated cycle/footbridge from the rail tunnel beneath Northbrook Street, across the existing rail bridge supports in the middle of the canal, to the towpath to face Brum city centre?

At the turn of the 21st century, sleek and modern looking cycle/footbridges were built near both Machynlleth and Towyn, way out in the heart of rural Wales to benefit tourism.  These proposals of mine are to facilitate modal shift to reduce chronic and increasing road congestion and to benefit business and the success of our city.  One cycle/footbridge to ease road congestion in Brum is far more important than two, way out in beautiful Wales.

What do you all think - please?!

Hurricane Sandy - stereotypical thoughts

The planet and its life support have never before seen such an onslaught from humans and their greenhouse gases upsetting the natural order of things.  Thus, I think, we get our come uppance as payback time gets ever nearer.  It creeps up on us as we determinedly carry on regardless, in our mad mad world, with our fingers crossed.  We think we can get away with it for ever.  Living infinitely on a finite planet.  Living unnaturally on a natural planet.  Pretty foolish - and damn stupid, actually!

Alternative way of putting the same thoughts:

The planet and its life support systems have never before had humans on its surface in such an enormous and ever increasing number; AND, so resolutely and so enthusiastically  pouring out ever rising quantities of greenhouse gases - so dangerously; and, eventually, to screw up what is meant to be the protective and life giving greenhouse blanket round the planet.  The planet has never before seen human emissions of greenhouse gases.  What a terrible shock for the system!  The planet will carry on serenely.  We humans will not.

No wonder Nature is hitting back and giving us our come uppance!

Whatever the actual rise in temperature, what seems obvious is that our unprecedented burning up of every ton of fossil fuel we can lay our hands on is bound to have an effect.  It's called the enhanced greenhouse effect - not quite what we want!

"Either, we get our numbers and our activities in harmony with the powers of the earth to support life or, collapsing eco-systems will do the job for us."    Green Party manifesto from many years ago.

The fool has said in his heart ...

... there is no over-consumption, no over-population and no runaway greenhouse effect! There is widespread complacency, scepticism, even denial over all three!

• The scientific evidence can't possibly be right! We've lived like this for 250 years burning up our finite fossil fuels and, in the process, our quality of life and our length of life have both improved. We have flourished, thanks to fossil fuel exploitation!
• 2,500 scientists from 130 countries on the United Nations Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change are plain wrong! I know best, so there!
• They can't possibly be right when their reports over the years have consistently maintained their conclusion that the major warming is due to human consumption and, hence, emissions of 200 greenhouse gases.
• It stands to reason, its obvious, that natural variations over the years in the world's climates and much solar activity are to blame for ice shelves disintegrating, glaciers retreating, and the many extreme weather events and disturbed weather patterns.
• What I think is right, so there! The scientists have got it wrong! I know best!

In fact, it is highly unlikely that, in the history of the earth, has it ever before seen such an enormous increase in greenhouse gases over such a very short time, relative to the geological time scale. It seems reasonable, therefore to assume that this will have a negative effect on life support systems. We sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. Over habitation makes the planet uninhabitable.

We all live in the rich West so unsustainably; the more extravagantly you live, the more you are taking an unfair share of the earth's resources. Hence, we are all fools - and worse; we are stealing from the rest of the planet's population and our own descendants! Fools and thieves, no less!