So, the government has given the go ahead on this project, and has decided that we've got £32Billion to spare. I rather thought we were cutting back on things. We get rid of perfectly usable Harrier Jets, become an island with a downsized fucking navy and a slight 'gap' as regards having an aircraft carrier, but we nevertheless believe that people are massively desperate to go between London and Birmingham! Sorry, I mean go between these two places a bit more quickly, as clearly they can travel between them already. The thirty-two billion pounds will allow people to save 40 minutes on travelling time - in fifteen fucking years!
Hang on, tell me which projects you know of that have not taken much longer than anticipated, and have not come in at double the price. Dome, Olympics, and every fucking scheme involving new computer systems and consultants to advise. This will take not 15 years but 20. It will not cost £32 billion, but £64 billion. At the end of it (if I am alive) I suspect that travellers will be faced with fares that make the cuntin' service unaffordable. It's all very well having the ability to get to places quickly, but not if you've got no pissing money left to spend - and in London, you really do need extra money to spend. I suspect that a London sandwich in fifteen years time will have gone from the current £2.99 (Egg & Cress) to £13.49.
So, we are going to fuck up the lives of many people who live on the planned route, compensate them at levels that do nothing to actually compensate them for having their lives fucked up, and murder the environment. Even if tunnels mean we 'put back' what may seem to be a reasonable looking scene, it will never be the same.
Government "estimates" about a benefit of up to £2.50 for every pound spent are fucking worthless. First, "up to" means anything from £0.01 to £2.50, so for a start, it's a rather big gamble. Then, there's the fact that people's working practices will be vastly different in fifteen years time. Already people work from home in large numbers, work on the move via laptops, Blackberrys etc, and in the future, it is surely going to be the case that being in London for 9am-5pm is unnecessary. The government estimate is based on more productivity because travel time is reduced. Sorry, but travel time is no longer dead time, and it most certainly won't be dead time for many, come 15 years time! So, office based work being all that counts is not right!
Getting to London quickly is one thing, but then getting to your final destination is another, and there will be a great demand for more London infrastructure. Indeed, filling London with even more people will cripple the capital even more. The underground service will seize up with hoards of extra people encouraged south - if they can pay the fare, there are no leaves on the line, no strikes, no technical issues, no security alerts . . . . .etc etc etc.
Are we saying that Londoners will abandon London and whiz up to Birmingham? Possibly. Maybe they will dare to travel north and expose themselves to the wastelands of the Midlands, where there's a smattering of manufacturing left, a fair few logistics operations (for geographical reasons only) and the Bull Ring complex. Hang on, is there really going to be enough benefit for them to do that? No, because if they liked it so much, they'd move there, save on housing, have no travel costs and live their lives. That same choice exists today, without a pissing train service at £32 Billion fuckin' quid!
MOD, Trident, Navy, Armed Forces, Dome, Computer Systems, NHS, Roads, Airports, DHS, Benefits, Justice, Europe. We FUCK UP everything. The rail link will quite simply be another thing on the list of complete cock-ups and another dire waste of money, time, lives and nature.
Still, on the bright side, in 2033 it might be possible to benefit from the links on to Leeds and Manchester. That's a very big "might" because it will be delayed or cancelled anyway, in my opinion.
Absolute bollocks!
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