Could the recent announcements on rail electrification be a way of "softening up" the Libdems?
Oh come on! A "£9bn" announcement, which includes £5bn alread committed, do the maths! All of the other projects have been in the pipeline anyway, there is nothing new here.
Except of course that the "electric spine" will prop up "Mr Spineless" by running to his Sheffield stomping ground.
I still haven't worked out how the existing routes (eg the XC route which starts at Bournemouth, but the wires aren't there until Southampton) will operate, but that's another one for PTDRUNe.
I think most people can see that the 3rd runway at Heathrow is a done deal and probably has been for some time.
Not a done deal at all. Looking more likely, yes, but still a lot of hurdles to jump. Would a bookie take a bet on this? Let's see the odds - never argue with a bookie!
Cameron must be aware that having such a biased transport secretary of state is unacceptable.
In which case, she shouldn't have been given the job! I had hoped she'd be shoved out the way, but my Tory contacts say she will be promoted UP! Speaking of bookies, they have her at 33/1 - still a long shot!
the UK is now the most crowded nation in Europe (Malta aside).
Record levels of immigration lead to jam-packed England as population rockets to 56m | Mail Online
I'm afraid Silver is making the classic American mistake of confusing England with the UK. The addition of the huge, largely deserted, Scottish landmass has a rather significant impact on the figures.
firstly, you still have an obsession with the semi-detach, which is hugely wasteful of space, and therefore not economic for land reclamation.
I believe you are the first on the thread to mention housing type, but maybe we can agree on something - high density is the way to go, it is quality that matters above quantity.
thirdly, every developer knows that the Greens will find a lesser-striped leach in the estuary somewhere, and the whole project will grind to a halt.
And they won't do
even more so for an airport?
Would they really have approved a £500 million rail link from Wales and the Thames Valley to Heathrow yesterday to be ready in about 10 years if they were going for Boris Island ??
I'm afraid you are giving the government too much credit. For the time being, Heathrow is the main hub, therefore it gets the surface investment. This does not mean either (a) that they will approve a third runway, nor (b) that they have abandoned Fantasy Island.
The left turn at "airport junction" should have been done yonks ago, and also makes far more sense with electrification through to Reading and beyond, rather than just Maidenhead, as per Crossrail.
The fact they are taking a line from Slough into Heathrow is interesting, but I'd like to see the full plans. £500m doesn't buy much tunnelling or new underground platforms.
Quote: "That, is why we need to save space, especially for something as wasteful of space as an airfield."
If airfields are such a waste of space, why are you spending so much time promoting one? Airfields are actually incredibly efficient uses of land, when exploited to the maximum. Just how big a motorway network would you need to build to serve the same range of destinations as can be reached from LHR? How many bridges across oceans? EXACTLY!
If there is any waste of land, it is in some of the sprawl that
surrounds airports. This can be managed through effective planning.
Now if you do want a wasteful airfield, take a look at Montreal Mirabel. Now if Fantasy Island gets approved without closure of LHR, that is
exactly what it will become.
In related news, the Government is supposedly to announce today that it will back £50bn worth of infrastructure
So they can back up £50bn of spending on multiple projects, or £50bn on one project. Do the maths.
The D.T. did say England was the densest in Europe after Malta, but now says we are third densest, after Malta and Holland.
The D.T. would never say such a thing. If you want to talk hard stats, as opposed to tourism, there is no such country as Holland.