No real surprise that Thameslink would be on the HLOS agenda - given
the urgent need to rebuild London Bridge. It will also fill in the
national investment gap before Crossrail starts up after th'Olympix.

Quote
LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Britain will announce a 30-year plan for
the country's overloaded rail system next week, giving the go-ahead
for a 3.5 billion pounds ($7.2 billion) upgrade to the Thameslink line
across London, industry sources said.
The paper will be launched against a backdrop of overcrowded carriages
and above-inflation fare increases.
But the UK's railways are nevertheless enjoying a boom as more and
more travellers switch from their cars and from planes, due to
congested roads and concerns about the environmental impact of
flying.
"Thameslink is going to be approved," an industry source told Reuters
on Friday. "That means tripling capacity from eight trains an hour to
24 trains an hour on the core route between Brighton and Bedford
through London."
"You'll also get a rebuilt London Bridge station and a rebuilt
Blackfriars station," said the source, adding that the government
would also approve the planned 500 million pounds reconstruction of
Birmingham's New Street station.
Another industry source said the 30-year rail plan would put emphasis
on developing the country's light rail network, including trams, which
are cheaper to run on low volume routes and easier to maintain.
"Thameslink will be one of the upfront priority projects, and they'll
be keen to get the first phase done ahead of the 2012 Olympics," added
that source. "The east-west pinch point at Reading will also be
addressed."
London's controversial Crossrail link still needs parliamentary
approval, so can not be given the green light.
"But I'm sure they'll say some warm words about it," said one of the
sources.
((Reporting by Pete Harrison; Editingy by Mark Potter, Reuters
Messaging: pete.harrison.reuters.comreuters.net; +44 207 542 7975))
($1=.4877 Pound) Keywords: RAIL PLAN/
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
Unquote

On 21 Jul, 09:05, Bob wrote:
No real surprise that Thameslink would be on the HLOS agenda - given
the urgent need to rebuild London Bridge. It will also fill in the
national investment gap before Crossrail starts up after th'Olympix.

Where was the mention of those 1,000 new carriages?!

"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
No real surprise that Thameslink would be on the HLOS agenda - given
the urgent need to rebuild London Bridge. It will also fill in the
national investment gap before Crossrail starts up after th'Olympix.

Quote
"Thameslink is going to be approved," an industry source told Reuters
on Friday. "That means tripling capacity from eight trains an hour to
24 trains an hour on the core route between Brighton and Bedford
through London."

Is it just me or do the Thameslink announcements always completely miss the
point? Nearly every statement made seems to include 'between Brighton and
Bedford' whereas the improvements cover a much wider area than the current
line...

Paul

"Paul Scott" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
No real surprise that Thameslink would be on the HLOS agenda - given
the urgent need to rebuild London Bridge. It will also fill in the
national investment gap before Crossrail starts up after th'Olympix.

Quote
"Thameslink is going to be approved,"

so that will make it almost 20 years late then

tim

In message , at 11:33:29 on Sat, 21
Jul 2007, tim..... remarked:
"Thameslink is going to be approved,"

so that will make it almost 20 years late then

It's been "approved" several times over. All it needs now is funding. If
the OP means that "funding has been allocated", then that's a useful
step, but quite disjoint from the approval process.
--
Roland Perry

Bob wrote in news:1185005123.278372.140640@
57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com:

snip
Another industry source said the 30-year rail plan would put emphasis
on developing the country's light rail network, including trams
snip

I'm sure the people of Leeds will be delighted to hear this...

--
Bewdley, Worcs. ~90m asl.

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:42:59 +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

"Thameslink is going to be approved,"

so that will make it almost 20 years late then

It's been "approved" several times over. All it needs now is funding. If
the OP means that "funding has been allocated", then that's a useful
step, but quite disjoint from the approval process.

I think we need to wait for the SOFA for that.

would also approve the planned 500 million pounds reconstruction of
Birmingham's New Street station.

Local press reports suggest that, at a high level, questions are still
being asked of this project.

I know New Labour needs little excuse to not spend on transport but
Ruth Kelly is questioning value for money and quite rightly so on this
one.

500M and there's to be no real capacity improvement what's the point
of that just another building that will be (hopefully) nice to look
at, but that will offer zero real transport improvement - waste, waste
waste!

Another industry source said the 30-year rail plan would put emphasis
on developing the country's light rail network, including trams, which
are cheaper to run on low volume routes and easier to maintain.


When New Labour proposes a 30-year plan on transport it means only one
thing - please don't bother us on this for another thirty years.

Labour's priorities have, from day one, been to bleed us dry with
taxes for education and health or more to the cynical point those
Labour voters that work in education and health.

Fact, and I honestly say this from a neutral perspective; until the
Tories return to power there will be no investment on transport.
That's the way it's been for the last ten years and that's how it will
be for the next if Labour maintains office.

On 21 Jul, 16:31, allan tracy wrote:
would also approve the planned 500 million pounds reconstruction of
Birmingham's New Street station.

Local press reports suggest that, at a high level, questions are still
being asked of this project.

I know New Labour needs little excuse to not spend on transport but
Ruth Kelly is questioning value for money and quite rightly so on this
one.

500M and there's to be no real capacity improvement what's the point
of that just another building that will be (hopefully) nice to look
at, but that will offer zero real transport improvement - waste, waste
waste!

Another industry source said the 30-year rail plan would put emphasis
on developing the country's light rail network, including trams, which
are cheaper to run on low volume routes and easier to maintain.

When New Labour proposes a 30-year plan on transport it means only one
thing - please don't bother us on this for another thirty years.

Labour's priorities have, from day one, been to bleed us dry with
taxes for education and health or more to the cynical point those
Labour voters that work in education and health.

Fact, and I honestly say this from a neutral perspective; until the
Tories return to power there will be no investment on transport.
That's the way it's been for the last ten years and that's how it will
be for the next if Labour maintains office.

Are you expecting a 'land of milk and honey' for transport investment
if the Tories are ever returned to power?

Get real. Their track record (no pun intended) from 1979 to 1997 in
transport investment was just as abysmal as Nu Labour's has been since
1997.

Transport investment isn't even on Cameron's spin agenda.

WTF

Are you expecting a 'land of milk and honey' for transport investment
if the Tories are ever returned to power?

Get real. Their track record (no pun intended) from 1979 to 1997 in
transport investment was just as abysmal as Nu Labour's has been since
1997.


The facts speak for themselves there's a huge list of stuff that got
kicked off by the Tories.

ECML electrification, WCML upgrade, Channel Tunnel and rail link,
Docklands, Thameslink, Jubilee Line and Metros in Liverpool,
Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester, Croydon, Birmingham and Nottingham.

I could go on.....

New Labour has given the go ahead, so far in over ten years, to
precisely nothing.

Were the Tory years milk and honey well from where we are standing now
very definitely yes.

New Labour does not do nuts and bolts they have a feminised Guardian
reading agenda - they're just not interested.