Once the poster had fleshed out their objections (many of them reasonable) you will see I did respond to his points. I also acknowledge I have a fairly brusque writing style on these boards, and I will continue to make effort to monitor this so that it doesn't dissuade posters from joining in the discussion.Frankly (?) I think the use of a word like 'offensive' could be considered offensive? The poster to which you are responding (Loppylugs) has posted a mere 358messages, against your 13,546 and I think deserves to have his view and contribution respected (esp as I support that view. I agree with a lot of what you say too!
Batteries could work, but you would be sacrificing significant benefits at the place you most want wires - your busy hubs where heavy trains are accelerating away in city centres. Batteries would make a lot of sense at somewhere like Weston-Super-Mare, but at core nodes of the national network or as part of major Inter-city lines carrying high speed trains you want continuous wires where possible. And, as mentioned, Bath has a solution already agreed with the heritage authorities and if stations such as Newcastle and York can be wired without killing the architectural grandeur I do not see why Bristol could not be similarly treated.
