A project [GWR] that would change the nation for ever … For an ambitious young engineer like Brunel, this new technology [rail] was rich in possibilities. Brunel: Building a Great Britain, Channel 5 2020
‘The time is not far off when we shall be able to take our coffee and write while going noiselessly and smoothly at 45-miles-per-hour – let me try.’ ibid. Brunel
Birmingham: Rare grave goods and coins left on the bones are revealing much about these people’s origins, beliefs and living conditions. And several skeletons show evidence of having been dissected. Britain’s Biggest Dig III
This whole area is destined to become the new 7-platform HS2 railway station. But before construction can begin and to the east of the cemetery site, archaeologists are hoping to find further evidence of the oldest surviving railway terminus in the world. Next to Park Street stands the last remnant of Curzon Street Station. Opened in 1838, less than 10 years after the pioneering locomotive, Stephenson’s Rocket, made railways a viable form of transport. Its neo-classical architecture mirrored the original Euston Station long since demolished at the other end of the line. ibid.
Over the road Boulton built the world’s first factory to pioneer mass production. But by 1848 that factory had closed and few factories like it were built in the city … Birmingham became an industrial boom town but without the factory revolution that was the hallmark of so many other industrial cities. ibid.
There are over 700 deaths or major injuries on Britain’s railways ever year. Nick Wallis, Guns and Gangs: Caught on Camera, Channel 5 2015
[George] Stephenson’s machine [Rocket] was the biggest news of its age. Andrew Marr’s History of the World VII: Age of Industry, BBC 2012
The floodgates have now opened for an annihilation of ticket offices. Ticket office staff ensure the railways are safe, secure and accessible. Wholesale ticket office closures would be disastrous for passengers and leave our railway deserted. Disabled and elderly passengers will be particularly affected. Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary 2022
If you’re a private train operator, it doesn’t matter whether your problem is unpredictable passenger revenue, costly train leases or industrial action, the Secretary of State is there to help, opening the public purse and emptying it into shareholders’ pockets. Mick Lynch
Cold hard reality is staring this government in the face yet its devotion to the profiteers stops it seeing what is blindingly apparent to everyone else. Private sector train operation is a write-off. The government should take all the franchises back into public ownership once and for all. Mick Lynch
The railways companies have made profit all the way through this dispute. They’ve been subsidised to run this strike. It’s the most corrupt strike in our history, I believe, the government is paying them to face us down in this dispute. Mick Lynch
February 2023: ‘The town is under a state of emergency after fifty train cars derailed causing a massive fire half a mile long.’ How Corporate Greed Destroyed East Palestine ***** news, Second Thoughts 2023
‘Well over 115,000 gallons of vinyl chloride.’ ibid. news conference
‘Breathing issues, tightness in our chests, severe headaches …’ ibid. victim
East Palestine Residents Report Health Problems After Train Derailment. ibid. Newsweek
These amounts are nothing. They are worse than nothing. They are an insult to the people [Norfolk Southern] they just poisoned. ibid. commentary
Between 2012 and 2014 North America was hit with a string of devastating trail derailments … labelled ‘bomb trains’. ibid.
Unions were sounding the alarm … [about] cutting costs and reducing the operating ratios for rail companies. ibid.
Safety is a cost that needs to be minimised. ibid.
Five major rail unions have stood in common sense opposition to this attempt to make railways even less safe … Rail companies use the piles of money they made by caring less about safety to influence policy and make sure that safety is even further reduced, and as a result, we suffer preventable catastrophic accidents. ibid.
This train derailment wasn’t being talked about much … a media matter. ibid.
So long as the profit motive remains the driving factor, nothing will meaningfully change. It’s time to nationalise the railways. ibid.
HS2 has been given a RED unachievable rating by the watchdog that watches over infrastructure projects. That means despite costing £108 billion and being X8 more expensive than any other rail project per mile. It cannot be completed. Who has stolen all the money? BladeoftheSun tweet 30th July 2023
HS2: A train line for the future, promised as the faster in Europe. It was designed to stretch from London to Leeds and Manchester. But after Rishi Sunak cancelled the line to Manchester, the scheme is in tatters. In the end it was the spiralling costs that sunk the scheme. And some claim the failures are more than just bad management. HS2: The Railway that Blew Billions, BBC 2024
‘This was the worst example of utter waste of public money.’ ibid. Andy Burnham
Tens of billions of pounds overspent and piles of rubble in London. ibid.
The landscape and the desire to avoid large towns also affected the choice of route. But the commitment to make HS2 a superfast line meant it had to take a straight path directly through the Chilterns. ibid.
‘HS2 is extremely stupid and extremely expensive.’ ibid. Andrew Gilligan
Capacity may actually get worse. ibid.