Have You Heard about…the New European Transport Strategy?
That is the title of an article in Georgia Today, which gives a solid overview of the strategy. This is the first two paragraphs of the article.
In 2013, the European Commission, in a EUR 250 billion European strategy which gives priority to the creation of an integrated transport network and seeks to level the imbalance between the Member States of the European Union, proposed the creation of international transport corridors, bringing together Western and Central Eastern Europe. In order to overcome traffic imbalance in the EU, nine multimodal corridors will be created, each of which has to combine at least three types of transport and connect three states.
The new infrastructure policy will unite 28 EU states under trans-European transport network (TEN-T). Nine transport corridors will be provided: Baltic – Adriatic Sea, North Sea – Baltic, the Mediterranean Corridor, Middle Eastern Corridor, Scandinavia – the Mediterranean Sea, the Rhine – Alps, the Atlantic Corridor, the North Sea – the Mediterranean Sea, and the Rhine – Danube. They will be grouped into three general areas of “East – West”, “North – South” and “Diagonal” corridors. The project is scheduled for completion in 2030. The transport corridors will receive priority funding to connect the east and west of the European Union. To finance the first phase of the project, EUR 26 billion was allocated.
I suppose that the Brexiters will say, that all it will do is bring more migrants to the UK.
But, think of the news a couple of days ago, when the Swiss opened the Gotthard Base Tunnel as is reported in this article on the BBC. This tunnel will have passenger trains, but one of it’s main purposes, is to get trucks from the roads through Switzerland, by moving a million tonnes of freight a year onto the trains. The tunnel removes a bottleneck on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor, which has been named the Blue Banana by a group of French geographers.
This is the introduction to the Wikipedia entry.
The Blue Banana (French: banane bleue, also known as the European Megalopolis or the Manchester–Milan Axis) is a discontinuous corridor of urbanisation in Western Europe, with a population of around 111 million. The concept was developed in 1989 by RECLUS, a group of French geographers managed by Roger Brunet.
It stretches approximately from North West England across Greater London to the Benelux states and along the German Rhineland, Southern Germany and Switzerland to Northern Italy in the south.
Since when have Greater London and Manchester been in mainland Europe?
I also didn’t realise that I lived in a megalopis of 111 million people.
We are doing our bit to create the freight rail corridor from Manchester to Milan, by improving rail routes between the Channel Tunnel and up the spine of the country to Manchester and eventually to Scotland.
This must bring benefits to the UK in terms of freight and trade.
- At the Northern end of the route, Liverpool is creating one of the largest container ports in the world.
- Our car factories can export direct to Europe using massive trains, as I wrote about in What A Lot Of Minis!
- British Steel’s renowned long products from Scunthorpe can’t be exported easily other than by train.
- Mediterranean produce can be delivered fresher to the UK.
- Scottish food and drink will have fast access to the heart of Europe.
And these are just five small examples.
One fifty kilometre tunnel in Switzerland has just made trade for the UK, easier.
Some of the other transport corridors will greatly help Eastern Europe, of which some parts need all the help they can get. The article says this about Rail Baltica.
There is a priority project in the railroad Rail Baltica. The Trans-European railway Rail Baltica, linking Helsinki – Tallinn – Riga – Kaunas – Warsaw and continuing on to Berlin, is to be developed within the territories of the co-operating EU Member States. Rail Baltica will support the wider EU goals of parity of access to services and infrastructure of EU Member States and development of sustainable modes of transportation, improved balance and interoperability between different means of transportation, and the establishment of links with the rest of the EU rail network. Even as far back as the 1990s it was in the works to build an underwater railway tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki, but the project was delayed due to financial constraints. This corridor also involves the development of river waterways and canals (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands), as well as ferry traffic (between Finland and Estonia). The project cost is estimated at over EUR 3.6 billion, including 50% from the EU budget (program TEN-T), and 50% from the budget of the project participants. In the Baltic countries there is no such means, and there are discussions about the feasibility of building a high-speed road which will pass by numerous settlements.
I feel very strongly, that good rail and road links through an area, improve its prosperity. If we look at that small project of the Borders Railway, can anybody deny that it has been a success and that it has helped to enhance the place of the Scottish Borders on the UK Tourist Map.
As I write this Radio 5 Live is hosting a discussion on Brexit from Cardiff. Some of the issued raisded include steel and agriculture.
The Welsh may not like it, but an electrified Great Western for freight and passengers, will make South Wales fully part of the Blue Banana, which can only be positive for the Principality.
Green Steel
This article on the BBC is entitled Tata Steel: Would-be UK buyer Liberty’s jobs hope.
Sanjeev Gupta, the head of the Liberty Group, is reported as saying this.
We would look to transition from blast furnaces to arc furnaces, from imported raw material to domestically available scrap, from making carbon steel to making what we call green steel – melting and recycling scrap using renewable energy.
As I heard the quote on the radio, I can verify that it is more or less correct.
I don’t know, whether what Mr. Gupta said can be achieved, but it strikes me that it is a feasible idea.
Vivarail D-Trains And The Heart Of Wales Line
I’d never really heard of the Heart of Wales Line until it was mentioned in this paragraph in this article on Wales Online about D-Trains running in Wales.
Vivarail spokesman Alice Gillman says the firm’s engineers believe the refurbished rolling stock would be suitable for lines in Wales including the Heart of Wales Line.
It certainly looks like a forgotten line that could certainly use some new rolling stock.
Reading the Wikipedia entry for the line, I come to the following conclusions.
- The line is mainly single track, but has been upgraded with four modern passing loops and can take freight trains that fir a loading guage of W5.
- The line is thought to be scenic.
- The passenger service is only a few trains a day and is mainly run by single coach Class 153 trains.
- It must have some horrendous operating problems, which could be expensive to handle.
It sounds to me, that this line is a very much underused asset, that if it was given a better train service could help to improve the lives of those in some of the most remotest parts of Wales. It might even bring more tourists to the area.
I must take a trip on the line.
In 2010, I took a train ride from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and after that trip, I came to the conclusion, that that very scenic line needed more capacity.
But five years on there is still not enough diesel multiple units to give these lines an upgraded service.
So as reports are suggesting, could one or more D-Trains be used on the Heart of Wales line?
The journey takes just over three hours with a Class 153 Train, which has a top speed of 75 mph.
So a D-Train would unlikely be faster along the route, as it only has a top speed of sixty. Although, as there are 29 stations on the line, the D-train which has been designed for easy loading and unloading in London, may actually not be much slower overall.
Imagine a train service with these characteristics.
- A train with seats arranged in fours around tables by the window.
- Lots of space for bicycles.
- Fully-accessible for everyone!
- Something like Vivarail’s proposed catering system.
- A clock-face hourly service from Craven Arms to Llanelli.
All is possible with the right number of D-trains.
D-trains offer other advantages.
- As the D-trains don’t need the sort of specialist depot that most trains need, this must ease maintenance of the trains.
- More than one train, probably eases the problems of what to do if a train has a serious breakdown or hits a flock of sheep or a snow drift in the middle of nowhere.
- Don’t forget the novelty value of riding a refurbished London Underground train in some of the most rural parts of Wales.
- D-trains will be available by the end of 2016.
D-trains may never run on the Heart of Wales Line, but I can certainly see the reasons why Vivarail have thought seriously about the possibility.
Wales Gets Details Of Vivarail’s D-Train
This article on the Walesonline web site is entitled First glimpse at London Underground carriages which could be used on Welsh train lines to ease overcrowding.
It talks about how Arriva Trains Wales have been sent details of Vivarail’s D-Train. This is said.
Vivarail spokesman Alice Gillman says the firm’s engineers believe the refurbished rolling stock would be suitable for lines in Wales including the Heart of Wales Line.
But she said at the moment there had been “no follow up” from the Welsh Government or Arriva Trains Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Ministers have made it clear that any rolling stock used on the next Wales and Borders Franchise and Metro should be of a higher standard. It is up to ATW to manage capacity requirements for the current franchise.”
But perhaps the most interesting part of the article is this vote.
Vivarail Vote In Wales
Now the Welsh are not stupid and so I would suspect this vote is sensible, unless it’s only had a few votes.
So could it be, that those voting have got rather fed up with the trains that are used on the Welsh rail network? Some are not the best trains on the UK’s rail network!
One of the great things about the D-Train, is that once the train is certified and Vivarail have built a few examples, they can be trialled on lines all over the country.
I’ve now read about four or five articles about the D-Train and places where they might be used. None have been hostile, so either Vivarail are doing a good PR job or the concept appeals to serious engineers, train companies, politicians and passengers. At least enough to give the concept a trial with an open mind!
Somebody, asked me when the last truly dreadful train was delivered to the railways of the UK?
I don’t think it’s happened very often since the Pacer trains were delivered in the 1980s. The body shells of the D-Trains may be of a similar vintage, but they are a much better train in the opinions of most commentators.
Nigel -There Are Trains To South Wales
Nigel Farage is blaming his non-appearance at an event in Wales on immigration causing the jams on the M4. He said this on the BBC.
It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here – it should have taken three-and-a-half to four. That is nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a population that is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be.
Obviously, if he travelled on the excellent train to Wales, he might have had to talk to some immigrants. Like I did on another train, where I chatted for an hour or so, to an Italian businessman, who moved here thirty years ago and married an Englishwoman a few years after.
I think I’ve met planks of wood with more real intelligence than Farage.
The Helpful Welsh
I sometimes find translations rather amusing.
An Obvious Translation
In this case surely the English translation isn’t needed.
Will We Get HSW Before HS2?
In this post about the BBC’s knocking of HS2, I jokingly referred to the Great Western Main Line as HSW, for High Speed West or High Speed Wales.
But is it that far from the truth?
A high speed railway is defined as one where speeds of 200 kph or 125 mph are possible. The fastest lines run at 320 kph or 200 mph.
So what speed can we expect to see on the Great Western Main Line, after it is fully modernised in 2017?
Currently the fastest trains in the UK are the Class 373 ( 300 kph) used by Eurostar, the Class 390 ( 225 kph) used by Virgin and the InterCity 225 (225 kph) used by East Coast. The latter two trains are restricted to 200 kph, due to signalling restrictions on their lines and because they have to mix it with slower trains.
It is also interesting to note that the Class 395, which bring the high speed Kent commuter services into St. Pancras run at 225 kph.
The new trains for the electrified Great Western Main Line are based on the Class 395 and are called Class 800 and Class 801. These have a design speed of 225 kph, but will be limited to 200 kph on traditional lines.
But Brunel built the Great Western for speed and a lot of the route it is pretty straight and much has four tracks. It is also going to be resignalled to the highest European standards with in-cab signalling. The latter is necessary to go above 200 kph. So it shouldn’t be one of the most difficult tasks to make much of the line capable of 225 kph or even more.
The only real problem on the line is the Severn Tunnel. But as Crossrail has shown, we have some of the best tunnel engineers in the world. So just as the Swiss dealt with their railway bottleneck of the Simplon Tunnel, all we need to do to improve the Severn Tunnel is give the best engineers their head and let them solve the problems, whilst the politicians sit around and watch and wait. After all it’s only a baby compared to the massive twin bores of the Simplon.
As an aside here, I do wonder if one of the most affordable solutions might be to use a modern tunnel boring machine to create a new tunnel alongside the current one.
Conclusion
So I believe that even if it still goes slower on opening, trains to Bristol and Wales will be doing 225 kph before the end of this decade.
If that isn’t a high speed railway like HS1, I don’t know what is?
But whatever we call it, it’ll be here several years before HS2!
I think we need to call for three cheers for Brunel, who got the route right in the first place.
Ivy Bank
I saw this sign in Shanklin and it reminded me of the worst hotel I ever stayed in.
Ivy Bank
It was in Monmouth in Wales and my father used to tell the tale with gusto. My parents, my sister and myself, had arrived late in the afternoon in the town and as ever, my father hadn’t booked a hotel, so he went searching and found this hotel called Ivy Bank. It had an air about it like a house, where someone has just died and everybody except for the maiden aunt has moved out. I can’t remember who slept where, but I can remember going down for breakfast and we sat like dummies waiting for the other guests or some staff to turn up. In the end the lady, turned up dressed like some stereotype out of films where doors creek and virgins scream. But she was carrying an enormous tray covered in every sort of food to make up the largest English or more truthfully Welsh, breakfast I’ve ever seen.
It was good and we ate well, before my father paid for the rooms and food and we left.
It later transpired that my mother hadn’t slept, as she could hear, what she thought were rats running all over the place.
Since that date, I have vowed never to set food in any house, pub, restaurant or hotel called Ivy Bank.
Gareth Bale, Cliff Jones and Taffy O’Callaghan
Tottenham Hotspur have a tradition of Welsh players, who were fast and skilful.
The one, I’ve seen most was Cliff Jones, who was an integral part of the Spurs double side and a few years afterwards. On form he could be brilliant and he could tear defences apart with his speed, in a manner not unlike that of Gareth Bale. What is often forgotten about Cliff Jones, is that on the death of John White and the retirement of Danny Blanchflower, he played much more as a midfield playmaker, rather than an outright winger. In some ways, isn’t this how another Welsh footballer;Ryan Giggs’s career has progressed at Manchester United?
I’ve put Taffy O’Callaghan in this post, as my father felt he was an amazing footballer from before the Second World War. He was supposed to be fast and my father told me that the team of those days was nicknamed the ‘greyhounds’, which is confirmed in Wikipedia. My father always said, he’d never seen anybody hit a football so hard. And they weren’t the lightweight balls of today!
We all know that Gareth Bale is good, but I won’t compare him directly, with his two predecessors. Although, it is informative to read Cliff Jones thoughts on Gareth Bale in this report on the BBC. In the article Cliff Jones doesn’t say that Real Madrid and others courted him continuously in the 1960s, but he stayed at Tottenham.
Perhaps being Welsh, he preferred the green grass at home?
There is also this article on Gareth Bale in the Guardian, which has this priceless quote from Blanchflower about yet another Welsh football legend; John Charles.
Everything he does is automatic. When he moves into position for a goal chance it is instinctive. Watch me and you’ll see I am seconds late, but all my thinking has to be done in my head. My feet do not do my thinking for me as they do for him.
The article says this could be applied to Gareth Bale. But then Blanchflower knew his football, both on and off the field. He was a unique talent himself!
Otters Will Be Otters
This story from the Metro, shows how we should co-operate a bit more, where wildlife are concerned. Here’s the first few paragraphs.
When Brian Dodson set up a carp fishery from scratch he had no idea the business would be quickly ruined – by otters.
The 60-year-old discovered the carnivores had eaten his entire £250,000 stock after a river haven for the animals was built nearby.
He is now seeking £2.5million from the Environment Agency, which he claims failed to tell him about the scheme and prevented him building protective fencing.
Surely there should have been a middle way.
But then as the story says otters are carnivores and will get their food no matter what. There was a story a couple of years ago, where otters were taking koi carp out of a pond in a suburban garden in Birmingham. No-one knew that there were otters in the nearby canal.
I’m reminded of the tale I heard when I shared the driver’s cab in a High Speed Diesel Train from Edinburgh to Inverness.
The owner of an hotel close to the line, built a lake, which he stocked with fish for his guests. But just down the road was Loch Garten, where ospreys have made a home. And as ospreys are wont to do, they found the hotel lake and decided it was a good place for dinner.
The hotel owner cut back on his fishing, but apparently, he now promotes the lake as a place to watch ospreys feed.
The Anonymous Widower 