Rail passengers travelling between London and the North-west are set to enjoy new vistas over Easter. Instead of the humdrum landscapes punctuated by Hemel Hempstead, Bletchley and Rugby, they will drift through the Chiltern Hills, past picturesque villages. And they will have plenty of time to enjoy the view; the journey from Nuneaton to Euston is scheduled to take three hours - triple the typical trip time. After £9bn of investment, and years of disruption, the new timetable on the West Coast Main Line was brought in shortly before Christmas. Yet the key stretch of track between Rugby and Milton Keynes will be closed for engineering work over Easter, adding hours to many passengers' journeys and no doubt persuading some to switch from rail to road....The railway systems of Switzerland and Britain are similar: each has networks with trains at the same times each hour. Operations are split over operators. Fares are high for "walk-up" customers but there are alternatives. Yet while the Swiss believe trains should connect - cross-platform transfers are one or two minutes - in Britain the mindset is to disconnect.
Rail passengers travelling between London and the North-west are set to enjoy new vistas over Easter. Instead of the humdrum landscapes punctuated by Hemel Hempstead, Bletchley and Rugby, they will drift through the Chiltern Hills, past picturesque villages.
And they will have plenty of time to enjoy the view; the journey from Nuneaton to Euston is scheduled to take three hours - triple the typical trip time.
After £9bn of investment, and years of disruption, the new timetable on the West Coast Main Line was brought in shortly before Christmas. Yet the key stretch of track between Rugby and Milton Keynes will be closed for engineering work over Easter, adding hours to many passengers' journeys and no doubt persuading some to switch from rail to road.
...The railway systems of Switzerland and Britain are similar: each has networks with trains at the same times each hour. Operations are split over operators. Fares are high for "walk-up" customers but there are alternatives. Yet while the Swiss believe trains should connect - cross-platform transfers are one or two minutes - in Britain the mindset is to disconnect.
Just like windfarms, most people understand they are more necessary to our future than cars and coal, but politicians are still engaged in trying to snuff them out. keep to the Fen Causeway
