• About

Paul Bigland

~ Blogging on transport, travel & whatever takes my fancy.

Paul Bigland

Monthly Archives: February 2015

Joe Rukin: The anti Hs2 mobs lies get bigger & bolder.

13 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Hs2, Politics, Railways

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Joe Rukin, StopHs2

As the anti Hs2 campaign sees any sign of success slipping further & further away their campaign has become increasingly desperate. This has meant that their lies have got bigger, bolder & more stupid…

On Wednesday, Professor Andrew McNaughton gave evidence to the High Speed Rail Committee on the capacity that would be released on the WCML after Hs2 opens. In a breathtaking example of lying through his teeth, StopHs2 Campaign Manager Joe Rukin has twisted McNaughton’s evidence to allege that “HS2 Ltd admit they will scrap all current long distance trains to Euston”

Here’s the press release Rukin has cobbled together: http://stophs2.org/news/13115-13115

And here’s the evidence that McNaugton gave to the Committee: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/hs2/oral-evidence/110215_Uncorrected_Afternoon.pdf

The relevant pages are 41 to 49.

Rukin asserts that “McNaughton has finally admitted that towns and cities in the Midlands, Scotland, Wales and The North West could lose direct services to London” Really? Where? What McNaughton actually said was this;

“We take off the main line most of the long distance non-stop services, because the purpose of HS2 is to serve cities on the long-distance network”

McNaughton went on to say “The effect for stations on the existing line is that, instead of seeing long -distance trains pass them by, albeit quite regularly, there is the opportunity to introduce new trains that serve those stations”

McNaughton also explained what the Transport Minister wanted “Now, the Secretary of State has set out some principles for how the West Coast Main Line ought to be reused and we worked within those, in doing this illustration They’re things like, broadly, where people have a train service to London, after HS2 comes in, there ought to be broadly a comparable-type service but, balanced against that, the opportunity to improve commuting to the places that most need improved commuting”

So, how can Rukin possibly justify his claim? Clearly, he can’t. It’s an obvious & very stupid lie, especially as McNaughton gave his evidence to a Parliamentary Committee where his words were recorded & transcribed. Rukin’s relying on gullible & lazy journo’s not to check their facts. After all, only the really stupid or geographically challenged will believe Hs2 Ltd will “scrap all current long distance trains to Euston” when, err – Hs2 will run into, oh yes – Euston….

Rukin repeats his lies by quoting himself (in his own press release, how’s that for ego!) “We have always said this means for dozens of towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales ‘losing the trains you currently have”

So where’s this little revelation confirmed by McNaughton’s presentation? Nowhere. In fact, it’s completely contradicted by these words; “We’ve effectively stripped the long-distance non-stopping services off the West Coast Main Line fast lines and into that now virtually empty railway started to show the types of services that could operate, particularly to pick up the commuter growth areas, which are part of the Government’s central strategy, out at Milton Keynes, Northampton, Rugby and so forth. “

So, McNaughton actually gave evidence that new services & extra trains would run, not less.

There’s also the small matter that Hs2Ltd can’t “scrap all current long distance trains to Euston” as that’s not their decision to make as Rukin well knows. What services run after Hs2 opens will be decided by the Office of Rail Regulation, the Secretary of State for Transport & the Dft in conjunction with stakeholders (something else McNaughton made clear).

Rukin has a long & colourful history of telling porkies but this one could really blow up in his face. He’s lied about the facts presented to a Parliamentary Committee that he’s given evidence to himself. So, what does that say about his integrity, the worth of his words & the weight of his evidence? Somehow, I don’t think the High Speed Rail Committee will be impressed. They’ve shown they don’t tolerate fools gladly.

UPDATE: 14th February.

If Rukin & StopHs2 think this is going to blow over they’re in for a real disappointment. The High Speed Rail Committee have announced they will publish the slides that went with Prof McNaughton’s evidence next week. Rukin penned his lies without seeing them. Once they’re available & I’ve had a chance to look at them, I’ll be blogging again. StopHs2 are in for a very uncomfortable time. As Shakespeare’s saying goes, ‘the truth will out’…

A good example of the need for Hs2.

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Hs2, Railways, Transport

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Hs2, Railways, UK

I’m typing this on board a CrossCountry service from Manchester Piccadilly to Birmingham, a journey I do on a regular basis. The trip will take me 91 minutes on a cramped & not exactly environmentally friendly 4 -car Voyager. When Hs2 is built the same journey will take just 41 minutes on a modern, spacious, high-speed electric train, slashing a massive 50 minutes off the time. Currently rail only has around 6% of the travel market between the two cities. Imagine what slashing 50 minutes off the time will do to encourage modal shift from roads & encourage more people to travel between our major regional cities by rail?

It’s exactly these regional time savings those opposed to Hs2 hate folk drawing attention to. They prefer to focus all their attention on London. So, let’s ignore them & look at some other projected journey time savings.

Leeds to Birmingham will be down from 1hr58 to just 57m.

Newcastle to Birmingham will be down from 3hr14 to 2hr07.

Nottingham to Birmingham Interchange will be down from 1hr46 to just 32m.

Bristol to Edinburgh will be down from 5hr49 to 3hr21

Cardiff to Leeds will be down from 4hr07 to 3hr13

There are many more examples given on Hs2 Ltd’s website here:

http://www.hs2.org.uk/about-hs2/facts-figures/connecting-britain

Of course, it’s not just about intercity journey time savings. The line I’m traveling on is also heavily used by local, inter regional & freight services. When the West Coast timetable was speeded up in 2008 some stations around Stoke were closed or lost their services to clear paths for fast Virgin Trains services to Manchester. Between 2004 – 2008 Stone station lost its rail services entirely. Now it has an hourly service provided by London Midland. There’s no hope of improving this as the capacity (until Hs2 is built) isn’t available. Eturia station closed on 30 September 2005. It was demolished to allow the line speed in the area to be raised from 60mph to 85-90mph. Local rail services were sacrificed to allow faster & more frequent Intercity expresses to run (and not just here around Stoke but also elsewhere on the West Coast Maine Line (WCML). Hs2 will allow us to reverse this process by removing those capacity eating non-stop services. Instead, those paths can be used by those trains we need to encourage greater modal shift – local, inter regional & freight. Without Hs2, that will never happen.

Incidentally, 51M who offered a supposed ‘alternative’ to Hs2 would have seen further cuts to services around Stoke. To allow more expresses, they’d have closed Stone & other stations, withdrawn the local services and didn’t even think about freight. Some ‘alternative’

UPDATE.

Since I first published this earlier today. Richard Wellings of the right wing ‘Think Tank’ the Institute for Economic Affairs (in reality a lobbying front for various anonymous big business interests like the tobacco & oil industry) has tried to claim on Twitter that there’s no demand for better rail services between Manchester & Birmingham. What? Two of our top 10 major cities by population (& top 5 if you include the Greater Manchester area)? To try & claim slashing 50 minutes off won’t result in modal shift to rail suggests to me Wellings is no real economist – just an apologist for industries which are scared of the expansion of greener transport modes.

UKIP & the anti HS2 mob are at it again (aka stitched up like a kipper!)

08 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Hs2, Politics, Transport, UKIP

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Anti Hs2 mob, Chris Adams, Hs2, UKIP

My previous blog about UKIP & the anti Hs2 campaign both being a bunch of fantasists caused some squeals from the certain quarters. So, you can imagine my amusement when today’s events in the media only proved what I was saying.

The Sunday Times ran a piece on some politicians packing their Twitter accounts with fake followers. One of the folk featured was none other than UKIPs candidate for Aylesbury Chris Adams, who tweets as @_Chris_Adams. He’s often tweeted nonsense & downright deceit about Hs2. Today the Times revealed that Adams claimed 30,000 Twitter followers whilst following 25,400 others whom he claimed to have ‘checked manually’. Yet, within a day of the ST contacting him he’d removed 25,200 people, leaving him following just 200. How odd. Unsurprisingly, he soon started hemorrhaging followers! One is forced to ask, what is it about UKIP & fake numbers? If it’s not Romanians, it’s…

This tactic of packing your Twitter account with either fake followers or following accounts who guarantee to follow you back to make yourself look important & have influence seems to be common to the anti Hs2 mob too. I’ll highlight one of their more laughable Tweeters in another blog.

You have to wonder. If the anti Hs2 campaign really does have the genuine mass support they claim. Why do so many of them have to resort to faking figures?

 

 

 

Kicking our heels in Abu Dhabi airport….

06 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Abu Dhabi, Air Travel, Aircraft, Communications, Internet, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Travel. Abu Dhabi. Etigad. Transport. Air travel

Well, the homeward trip has begun. Yesterday’s water taxi trip on Bangkok’s Chao Praya river and BTS Skytrain jaunt into the heart of the city seems like a lifetime away already. We’re flying back to the UK with Etihad Airines via their hub in Abu Dhabi. I’m not a great fan of flying. The romance of being stuck on a thin metal tube with 300 odd souls as it skims its way above the planet at 37,000ft was lost years ago. I don’t think the name ‘Airbus’ does much to bring that lost era back either although the planes Etihad use are very well equipped with a large variety of film, TV & music channels to help make 6 hours clamped in a set with legroom that can best be described as ‘cosy’, bearable. I always envy my partner’s ability to sleep on planes. She had over four hours kip whilst I took in a couple of films, including the WW2 Tank movie ‘Fury’ starring Brad Pitt (I wasn’t very impressed with the Hollywood heroics & thin characters, but it did pass the time).

Now we’re kicking our heels in Abu Dhabi airport, waiting for our onward flight to Manchester. This being an Arab state, the only temptations put in front of your are those of financial excess. The airport is a well stocked consumerist haven – especially if you’re into brand names & expensive chunky watches. Oh, and chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate…

In the spirit of these straightened times we’ve kept our cash & opted to spend our hours catching up with the world using the airport’s free wifi. It’s not particularly fast but there’s no time limit. As an itinerant photographer I spend a lot of my life fighting with free wifi at airports, stations & hotels. I have to laugh when I remember my early travels and two words most folks under 25 will probably never have heard of:’Poste Restante’- those far off days when you used to have real, handwritten letters waiting for you to collect at nominated post offices in far flung lands. My, how the world’s changed. Then you’d wait months for news from home (unless you wanted to blow your budget on the occasional phone call via some temperamental state phone system where you’d pay a fortune for the privilege of shouting to your loved ones down a receiver that sounded like it was connected with string – via the moon ). Yet, in some ways, I miss those old days. The immediacy of modern communications has taken away some of the romance & craft that went into letter writing. Now it’s time to step back into the 21st century & publish these thoughts which will be accessible to a whole planet (should any of it bother to look) at the press of a button. So, here goes…

Now the anti Hs2 mob have rediscovered cretinous ideas from the 80’s…

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

As I’m still ostensibly on holiday & in a very different time zone I’m trying to keep my powder dry on some of the completely cretinous ideas that have emerged when Richard Wellings of the Institute of Economic Affairs has done an Indiana Jones & disturbed the tomb of ‘Transport Watch’.

So,I’m fortunate that I can give a hat tip to the brilliant commentator Tim Fenton, who has done a very good job of exposing this unholy alliance;

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/iea-exhumes-flat-earth-idea.html

Newer posts →

Recent Posts

  • Asian adventure day 25. Kanchanaburi day 2.
  • Asian adventure day 24. Kanchanaburi day 1.
  • Asian adventure day 23. Bangkok day 6.
  • Asian adventure day 22. Bangkok day 5.
  • Asian adventure day 21. Bangkok day 4.

Recent Comments

Helen on Asian adventure day 24. Kancha…
Paul Bigland on Whatever happened to the anti…
James K on Whatever happened to the anti…
Paul Bigland on Whatever happened to the anti…
James K on Whatever happened to the anti…

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • June 2013

Categories

  • 'Green' madness
  • 'Think Tanks'
  • 144e
  • 2005 London bombing
  • 2017 General election
  • 3 peaks by rail
  • 3 Peaks by ral
  • 51M
  • 7/7
  • Abandoned railways
  • Abu Dhabi
  • ACoRP
  • Adam Smith Institute
  • Adrian Quine
  • Advertising
  • Air Travel
  • Aircraft
  • Airports
  • Airshows
  • Allan Cook
  • Amsterdam
  • Andrea Leadsom MP
  • Andrew Gilligan
  • Andrew Haylen
  • Andy Burnham MP
  • Anti Hs2 mob
  • AONBs
  • Arambol
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Australia
  • Bali
  • Bangkok
  • Bank holidays
  • Barrow Hill
  • Belgium
  • Bereavement
  • Berlin
  • Bigotry
  • Birmingham
  • Blists Hill
  • Blue passports
  • Boris Johnson MP
  • Brexit
  • Brighouse
  • Brighton
  • British Railways
  • British Railways (BR)
  • Byline media
  • Calder Valley
  • Canals
  • Carillion
  • Carolyne Culver
  • Censorship
  • Charities
  • Cheryl Gillan MP
  • Cheshire
  • China
  • Chris Packham
  • Claire Perry MP
  • Class 155
  • Class 313
  • Class 314s
  • Class 317
  • Class 320
  • Class 321
  • Class 365
  • Class 455
  • Class 456
  • Class 507
  • Class 508
  • Class 60s
  • Class 91
  • Climate Change
  • Communications
  • Community
  • Community rail
  • Community Rail Network
  • COP26
  • Corbynwatch
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • CP5
  • Crap journalism
  • Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week
  • Crazy kippers
  • Crewe Hub
  • Crossrail
  • Cuba
  • Cumbria
  • Customs
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cycle India
  • Cycling
  • Dawn
  • Democracy
  • Denmark
  • Derbyshire
  • Desiro City
  • Diary
  • Dispatches
  • Doha
  • Donald Trump
  • Doomed
  • Down memory lane
  • East Midlands Railway franchise
  • East Midlands Trains
  • Easter fairy stories
  • ECML
  • Economic illiteracy
  • Economics
  • election2015
  • Engineering
  • Environment
  • Essex
  • Eurostar
  • Euston
  • Extinction Rebellion
  • Fake News
  • Festivals
  • Film and TV
  • Flooding
  • Flora and Fauna
  • Food
  • Food and drink
  • Foot in mouth
  • Gardening
  • GBRf
  • General election
  • General election 2019
  • Georgetown
  • Germany
  • Glasgow
  • Glossop
  • GNGE
  • GNRP
  • Goa
  • Grand Central trains
  • Grant Shapps MP
  • Great Western Railway
  • Greater Anglia franchise
  • Greece
  • Green issues
  • Green madness
  • Green Party
  • Gt Missenden
  • GTR
  • Guido Fawkes
  • GWML
  • GWR franchise
  • Gwyll Jones
  • Halifax
  • Harvil Rd Hs2 protest
  • Harz railway
  • Heathrow 3rd runway
  • High Speed 1
  • High Speed UK
  • History
  • Hitachi
  • Hong Kong
  • House of Lords
  • HS North
  • Hs2
  • Hs2 Bow Group
  • Hs2 petitions
  • Hs2 Phase 2B
  • Hs2 to Crewe
  • Hs2aa
  • HS2Rebellion
  • HSUK
  • Huddersfield
  • Humberside
  • Humour
  • Hurricane Ophelia
  • Hypocrisy
  • I love my job
  • Imperial College London
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Infrarail
  • Innotrans
  • Internet
  • Iolo Williams
  • Ireland
  • Islamophobia
  • Jacob Rees Mogg
  • Jeremy Corbyn
  • Jeremy Corbyn MP
  • Jo Johnson MP
  • Joe Rukin
  • John McDonnell MP
  • John Poyntz
  • Johnathan Bartley
  • Journalism
  • Kanchanaburi
  • Kent
  • Kuala Lumpur
  • Labour election
  • Lancashire
  • Laos
  • Law and order
  • Lazy journalism
  • Leicestershire
  • Liam Halligan
  • libel
  • Lilian Greenwood MP
  • Liverpool
  • LNER
  • Local elections
  • Local elections 2018
  • Lockdown
  • London
  • Lord Berkeley
  • LRT
  • M62 motorway
  • Major Projects Authority
  • Malaysia
  • Manchester
  • Manchester Airport
  • Manchester Victoria
  • MAPA
  • Mark Keir
  • Marketing
  • Martin Tett
  • Melton Mowbray
  • Memory Lane
  • Merseyside
  • Michael Dugher MP
  • Michael Fabricant MP
  • Mid Cheshire against Hs2
  • Miscellany
  • Modern Railways
  • Monorails
  • Music
  • Musings
  • Mytholmroyd
  • Natalie Bennett
  • National Rail Awards
  • National Trust
  • Nepal
  • Network Rail
  • Never a dull life
  • New Economics Foundation
  • New trains
  • New Year
  • New York
  • New Zealand
  • NHS
  • Nigel Farage
  • Norfolk
  • Norland scarecrow festival
  • Northern Powerhouse
  • Northern Rail
  • Nostalgia
  • Nottingham
  • Obituaries
  • Old Oak Common
  • ORR
  • Ossett
  • Our cat, Jet
  • Oxfordshire
  • Pacers
  • Paris terror attack
  • Parliament
  • Pasenger Growth
  • Patrick McLouglin MP
  • Penny Gaines
  • Peter Jones
  • Peterborough
  • Photography
  • Photojournalism
  • Picture of the day
  • Poetry
  • Politics
  • Porterbrook
  • PR nightmares
  • Protest
  • Public Accounts Ctte
  • Pubs
  • rail ale
  • Rail electrification
  • Rail fares
  • Rail Investment
  • Rail Live 2021
  • Rail Live 2022
  • RAIL magazine
  • Rail Moderinsation
  • Rail PR
  • Railfreight
  • Railstaff awards
  • Railtex
  • Railway Benefit Fund (RBF)
  • Railways
  • Rant
  • Religion
  • RFEM
  • Richard Wellings
  • Ride India
  • Road accidents
  • Rolling blogs
  • ROSCOs
  • Royal Mail
  • Royal Wedding 2018
  • RSPB
  • Rugby Observer
  • Rushbearing
  • SAIP
  • Scores on the doors
  • Scotland
  • Scotrail
  • Sheffield
  • Shrewsbury
  • Shropshire
  • Siemens
  • Signalling
  • Silly season
  • Simon Heffer
  • Simon Jenkins
  • Singapore
  • Sleeper trains
  • Snail mail
  • Social media
  • South West Trains
  • Southport
  • Sowerby Bridge
  • Spectator magazine
  • Sri Lanka
  • St Pancras station
  • Stafford
  • Stamford
  • Station buffets
  • StopHs2
  • Surrey
  • Talgo
  • Teresa May
  • Terrorism
  • Tesla
  • Thailand
  • Thameslink
  • The 'Beast from the East'
  • The BBC
  • The Big 6
  • The Daily Express
  • The end of the line
  • The fog
  • The Grauniad
  • The Great Central railway
  • The Green Party
  • The Independent
  • The Moorcock Inn
  • The Piece Hall
  • The Railway Children
  • The Rodelblitz
  • The USA
  • The Woodland Trust
  • Tilford
  • Tony Allen
  • Torquay
  • Tourism
  • TPE
  • Traffic congestion
  • Trams
  • Trans-Pennine electrification
  • Transport
  • Transport for Wales (TfW)
  • Travel
  • Twilight years
  • Twitter
  • Twitter (and how not to use it)
  • UK
  • UK steel industry
  • UKIP
  • Uncategorized
  • Vandalism
  • Victoria Prentis MP
  • Virgin Trains
  • Virgin West Coast
  • Vivarail
  • Wales
  • Walking
  • Warwickshire
  • WCML
  • Weather
  • West Yorkshire
  • Wigan
  • Wildlife Trusts
  • Worcester
  • Work
  • World War 1
  • World War Two
  • Yorkshire
  • YorkshireStopHs2

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Paul Bigland
    • Join 400 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Paul Bigland
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar