Hi Kurt
I don't want to be seen as defending investment in the London area- that's not really my point. But the example you refer to certainly doesn't fall into the category of being "waved through". The last time I used the Victoria Line I noticed the new trains, but then I realised that these were replacing the original 1967 trains. Renewal of near 50-yr old rolling stock shouldn't be too surprising. And a lot of the trains are even older - I may be showing my age but I remember that it wasn't all that long ago that the 1930s era Bakerloo Line trains were still around!
You talk about the capacity limits on rail lines to the south of Manchester. But isn't this precisely the justification for HS2 - that there is no capacity for growth on the WCML? And if there's an example of investment being waved through it has to be HS2, which struggles to meet the economic criteria that are applied to all other rail projects. As for Liverpool, I don't know if there are any proposals to deal with this, but if there aren't then the criticism needs to be levelled at the regional transport bodies, rather than blaming the Westminster mafia. Osborne's recent statements suggest that improvements to East-West links in our region are a priority.
Please don't think I'm taking sides in a North v South debate - I was born and bred here and now live in the region again after some time in the evil South. But what frustrates me is when people focus on the issue of "fairness" without being explicit as to what they actually want for our region. Like Bagso I was very disappointed that MAG's submission to the Davies Commission was long on rhetoric but sadly lacking in concrete proposals. A timid and unrealistic proposal on APD, modest tweaks to route licensing, and a bit more surface access investment (much of which has now been approved). That was about the sum total of MAG's message - they really could have been more ambitious. Instead, the submission came across as a corporate whinge, rather than a constructive set of proposals aimed at cementing MAN's role as the pre-eminent airport outside London.