Our railways have never been busier with passenger traffic. In many areas trains are overcrowded and lines are running at maximum capacity. Across the country there are plans to re-open closed stations and closed lines. A far cry from the 1960s and 70s when the very future of rail transport was in doubt.
On the freight side obviously there is not as much traffic as collieries, shipbuilding yards and steel plants have closed and with them the coal, iron ore and steel traffic. Nonetheless there is a growing demand for rail freight.
In the current economic climate it is vital that available resources are used on what is needed, rather than on grandiose schemes. Step forward the proposal for High Speed 2 which it is planned will hurtle people between London, the West Midlands and the North. Is such a railway needed as a matter of necessity or would the money be better spent on improving piecemeal the existing railway system and re-opening a few closed lines?
In my opinion four types of scheme should take priority:
1. Improvements to rail transport in and around major cities and conurbations.
2. Improving links between population areas outside London.
3. Developing routes which will steer traffic (passenger and freight) away from bottlenecks.
4. Electrification of routes.
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