Now try spending a similar amount of money on transport infrastructure up north - ThreadSky

mattround.com • 4 days ago

Now try spending a similar amount of money on transport infrastructure up north

"TfL’s analysis shows that within a km of an Elizabeth line station in London, the number of new houses is 8-14% higher, and nearly 400,000 jobs have been created since 2015."

A smashing success: it's carried half a billion passengers since opening in 2022.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

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matsimpson.com•3 days ago

Not sure that’s TfL’s job tbh

amazingmikeyc.bsky.social•4 days ago

Doing a big infrastructure project is too expensive, so instead they say they'll improve existing infrastructure incrementally, and then don't do that either.

mattround.com•4 days ago

Also v noticeable that London-related projects basically get a too-big-to-fail blank cheque, whereas anything up north is cancelled if it looks like budget will have to rise or cutbacks are needed

tootlefish.bsky.social•4 days ago

They also overspec stuff before cancelling it on astronomical cost grounds. HS3 was overkill. It takes 50-90 minutes to travel 30 miles from Manchester to Leeds. A normal second line with an express that doesn't stop at every village would be absolutely fine and take no time at all. But no.

mattround.com•3 days ago

Or just chuck a load of money at the bus network, you could probably have free buses across the UK for the price of one London infrastructure project

tootlefish.bsky.social•3 days ago

Bus subsidies are much higher outside London than in London so it sort of happens (a bit/insufficient etc). But I'm a big fan of the Manchester metro. And Leeds is the biggest city in Western Europe without light rail (recalled internet fact caveat). Trains are great if we build them.

amazingmikeyc.bsky.social•3 days ago

I think they get hung up on buses serving rural communities (not unimportant!) but I think better services to get from one side of a city to the other would improve things a lot more than people think. It's daft it's so much easier and faster to drive 5 miles, cos I'm not waiting 25 mins in the cold

amazingmikeyc.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yeah, twice as many buses would be great. Totally doable. You should never have to wait more than 10 mins for a standard city bus.

tootlefish.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yes. Rural areas are more complicated. Lots of buses roll around nearly empty and the subsidy is already quite big to pay for that. But city buses can wash their face financially so a no brainer.

amazingmikeyc.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yes. They'll go "it'll cost £1bn and only make back 10x in 10 years; cut it" because a London project might make back 20x. But will cost £10bn.

welshborat.bsky.social•4 days ago

And the long forgotten East.

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