YP Comment: Fantasy trains
MAGNETIC LEVITATION may work in Shanghai which boasts the world's fastest railway, but futuristic-sounding carriages in the sky are not needed on the trans-Pennnine route between Hull and Liverpool. The brainchild of fantasists who seem to have forgotten that their contraption would have to travel over the wind-swept Pennine hills, it actually diverts attention away from plans to upgrade links from Leeds to Manchester and vice-versa.
Though there’s political recognition that train speeds – and rail capacity – should be increased, the issue is that the sense of urgency is not shared by the powers-that-be in Whitehall, where transport policy invariably begins, and ends, in London. As such, it speaks volumes about the disparity in investment that passengers here will just be satisfied with some new track being laid, and with a minimum of fuss please, rather than pie-in-the-sky plans that will never get off the ground because they’re so unrealistic.