Thanks for the replies, sorry to have taken to long to reply.
Other railways
Thanks for the list of nearby railway lines and museums.
Yes I was aware there are a number of standard guage railways and museums at Aylesbury and Northampton. I was aware there are a number of miniature and narrow guage in Beds and Herts as another man gave me a list.
But none of these attractions are standard guage railways in Beds or Herts or South Cambs.
Looking at spacing between attractions - Yes - the Luton and Dunstable area is only 20 to 40 miles from the standard guage railways around Aylesbury and Northampton, but due to the distance to the West between these attractions (which are after all in the Midlands) and Luton and Dunstable (on the Western boundary of Eastern England) all these standard guage railways are over 100 miles from similar attractions in East Anglia.
Connection to main line at Luton
This is a picture of the former connection at Luton
http://www.lostlines.fotopic.net/p24800944.html
taken 28 July 1991.
It can be seen that the trailing junction and connection to and from the Dunstable branch is some distance to the South of the station at Luton, so the station at Luton would not be compromised by a new chord allowing through running from London to and from the former Dunstable line, the existing connection has no effect on the Luton station, and the new chord would need to be built some distance to the South of the existing junction.
Rolling Stock
I had recognised in my writings that additional Electric Multiple Units would be required for Dunstable services.
Investment levels
Yes the dual - use proposal DOES represent a large investment - BUT so does the guided bus way - it is variously reported to be of £89 to £92 million with a £9 to £12 million contribution from the council(s).
Local opinion
I have to be careful what I say here - BUT - it would seem to some that the guided bus way really does appear to be very unpopular in the eyes of many there - just look at some of the press coverage!
The guided bus way remains extremely controversial. A Luton Lib Dems annual poll of 25,000 houses found 96% of hundreds of respondants were opposed to it.
http://www.lutonlibdems.org.uk/index.php/2010/09/96-say-no-to-busway/
In an article in the Dunstable Gazette the local Tory M.P. Andrew Selous revealed that he had been inundated with e-mails and letters opposing the guided bus way and only one person had written to him in favour of it.
http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/local/luton_dunstable_busway_contract_to_be_kept_secret_1_1037907
' Lib Dem Councillor Jenny Davies added: “They talk about trying to save money, but £92 million on a busway that nobody wants, that’s ludicrous. They’re spending money like it’s going out of fashion." '
http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/local/many_thanks_and_goodbye_1_2320046
Central Bedfordshire Unitary Council has only expressed corporate support for the guided bus way (despite Beds County Council withdrawing in 2004) because Luton Borough Council would have been allowed to go ahead regardless if they had opposed it, and they would have had zero control over implementation of it.
http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/mgAi.aspx?ID=15569
The short running line in the heritage railway proposal: -
There is a proposal for a longer running line for the proposed heritage railway East of High Street North - this is summarised below.
This is
controversial as the design of the bus way at the cutting at South Apex would have to be altered and there are concerns raised about possible loss of open space at Dunstable Park.
At Dog Kennel Path: -
Concrete retaining wall along the South face of the Dog Kennel Cutting, the bus way would be moved 11 - 13 - 15 foot to the North, Northern retaining wall would be full height of cutting and the disused railway moved 6 - 4 - 2 foot to South, so that a single-track railway could run to the South of the bus way lanes.
At East end of Dog Kennel Cutting: -
East of the North West corner of the West Playing Court the single-track railway line would cross the boundary of the disused railway corridor with the Park.
Along Park: -
The single-track railway line would be slewed to South to run along a narrow strip of land on the Park beside the disused railway corridor,
most of which is currently covered by encroaching undergrowth.
All trees in Park retained in situ.
At Court Road: -
The single-track railway would terminate at Court Road. Surveys of the disused railway formation after the foliage was cleared raised the issue as to whether the design would raise the railway to the level of the bus way and Court Road (through route) on to a widened embankment or leave the railway at the level of the surrounding land.
See
http://south_bedfordshire_railway.webs.com/extensiontocourtroad.htm
Extension to West
Also in the distant future in theory the line could cross High Street North and run past the council offices (gardens and car park) to and across Brewers Hill Road and past the industrial units in to the open country side beyond.
The previous postings went in to a political discussion.....
O/T but I wholeheartedly agree with you about the failings of the previous government.
As you have said instead of paying off debt Labour ran a deficit of £28 to £42 billion p/a for six years between mid-2002 and mid-2008 - this is often overlooked but
this added up to £204 billion in total - and then failed to spend much on capital spending (this was often put on PFI) and spent a lot on wage rises for themselves etc - a process often described as the "public-sector gravy-train."
