Rail joke

By William Green on Nov 29, 08 10:07 AM

From today's Journal:

FLAGSHIP plans to build hundreds of new rail carriages were last night branded a "joke" after it emerged the North East may get just four coaches.

Chancellor Alistair Darling proudly announced earlier this week that funding was being brought forward to introduce up to 200 new rail carriages on the train network faster than planned.

But long-suffering passengers will be shocked to learn that the Government is spending just ÃÂ£5m on buying new train coaches for use in the region.

New carriages are estimated to cost around ÃÂ£1m, but rail expert Phil Haigh warned the costs of maintenance and financing meant there might only be enough money to buy four coaches for the North East.

The 200 new carriages, due to be running within two to three years, form part of a previous announcement by the Department for Transport (DfT) of 1,300 new coaches being fully introduced by 2014.

Last night, Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell said: "I really honestly think that it's a joke and they should rethink their strategy.

"They put out all these great things, but all we are going to get is four carriages."

Greg Stone, a senior Liberal Democrat Newcastle councillor, said: "My concern is that this doesn't lead to a significant increase in the frequency of service. It will just create a very small amount of capacity on particular trains.

"It might be helpful to put an extra unit or two for the Durham and Chester-le-Street commuters into Newcastle. But it is basically going to have a negligible effect."

A DfT spokesman confirmed that up to new 200 new rail carriages could be in action within two to three years, but formed part of a wider fleet of 1,300 being introduced by 2014. But the cost of each carriage had not yet been "defined" because it depended on the procurement process, he added.

Comment (1)

Older/Newer

« Nothing to link UK with Mumbai attacks - police chief | Nothing to link UK with Mumbai attacks - police chief »

1 Comments

RISHIRAJ PUROHIT said:

well this Rail joke - Journal Live - Blog Central superb.
This one also have some nice stuff www.jokesmsquote.com

January 24, 2010 10:24 AM

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.

This is to help prevent spamming and confirm you are a human

Professor Paul Younger - on a Newcastle University project harnessing the city's geothermal energy
My postings | My feed

Will in Whitehall - The Journal's Political Editor on life at Westminster
My postings | My feed | Twitter

Nicola Weatherall - Education Reporter Nicola Weatherall is training for the London Marathon.
My postings | My feed

Brenda Boyd - the life and times of a morris dancer
My postings | My feed

Hannah Davies - on family matters
My postings | My feed

Write Said Fred - A view of the world from three feet
My postings | My feed

Adrian Pearson - The Journal's Regional Affairs Correspondent with a look behind the scenes of North East politics
My postings | My feed | Twitter