Northhighland
Member
- Joined
- 19 Aug 2016
- Messages
- 606
EGIP is a sensible enough project just poorly delivered, late and way over budget. Same goes for the HST project, Caledonian sleeper all over budget and very late.If you're keeping precisely to topic then you may be right - the Scotrail HST shambles is probably a consequence of trying to come up with a cheap solution to the expensive problem of providing Scotland with a decent intercity rail service. That 156 to Middlesbrough would suit your argument very well too, I'll give you that. Let's not start on the state of the rail network of NE England though.
But there's nothing third world about EGIP or the 385s, the new Caledonian Sleeper, the mind bending hybrid ferries or, on your doorstep, late and over budget schemes like AWPR and Aberdeen to Inverurie rail redoubling, complete with its £12m wayside halt at Kintore.
I think that it's money wasted that's the problem rather than under investment. And there's no more absurd waste so far than those HSTs. Assuming they're paying for them at all, I wouldn't be...
Don't start on Calmac ferries, they are a whole other level of gross mismanagement. The choice of vessels leaves a lot to be desired, severe overhaul of all west cost ferry services and how they work is long overdue.
Investment needs to be less political, far too often wrong decisions are made for political reasons, that is not meant as a party political point it happens in all governments of every colour.
On HST, it does look like a decent enough solution if we could get our trains working like all the other operators...