I have deep misgivings about Philip Hammond, the UK's new Transport Secretary.
He set his stall out early and has continued in the vein: that he's going to "end the war on the motorist".
It doesn't seem to matter that a war on cars is a figment of the imagination of the motoring lobby and the tabloids. It's populist, so it's going to be done.
The first shot was fired last week when he announced that the M4 bus lane was being scrapped, and that the lane would be open again to all vehicles. No thought seems to have been given to re-purposing what has actually been a successful scheme - independent research has shown that it reduced traffic jams, improved rush hour journey times for buses AND cars, and reduced accidents.
They could have re-purposed the lane for high-occupancy vehicles, to allow buses to use it along with cars with more than one occupant. But this seems to have been dismissed as not populist enough.
Today, Hammond is addressing the Tory conference and the Guardian says he will announce £800 million for the High Speed 2 rail line, from London to Birmingham.
On the one hand, I'm glad that they're finally committing to this much-needed project that quite frankly should have been built ten years ago.
On the other hand, Birmingham seems to be the end of the line. The HS2 will split there, with one branch joining the West Coast Main Line to Manchester and Glasgow, and the other branch joining the East Coast Main Line to Newcastle and Edinburgh.
This means the chances of a dedicated high-speed line to Scotland and the north of England will be extremely slim.
The government should commit now to building the line all the way to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and then start building it from the north southwards to ensure that it happens.
But then, there's no votes for the Tories in Scotland or the north of England, is there?
1 comments:
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