With regard to Northern "victimhood", I agree that it's a shame we tykes haven't just accepted our lot like we used to... or like how the Thameslink gentlefolk have welcomed the 700s with open arms and barely a peep of discontent.
I am a Northerner and apart from a few months in London I have spent my entire life in the North and North Wales so "we tykes" includes me. The current Northern and TPE franchises are a massive step forward but there is still plenty of moaning that we are not getting the same as the south. Its pretty obvious that entire fleet replacements are the only way to increase capacity on some lines into London, thats not the case elsewhere.
Of course Manchester city centre's vast redevelopment is unpopular because its making the city centre too like London, so its whinge that we don't have the same as London and whinge that we are becoming too similar to London. Whinge that we don't get investment, then whinge that £1.5bn on Metrolink should obviously have been spent on heavy rail. Whinge about HS2 being a waste of money and then whinge that NPR won't be a 220mph line like HS2 or wont be via Woodhead. Basically just whinging as a lifestyle! Some people just can't be pleased that real investment and effort is being made even if its not how they would do things.
