A different kind of political blog.

From our correspondent and with permission:

Dear All,

Angela and I have just come back from a trip  to Oberammergau. We went via high speed train from St Pancras to Brussels and then again from Cologne to Munich and Munich to Worgle.

The fact of the matter is that “high speed” is a fabrication. Although the trains were seemingly capable of travelling beyond 200 mph NEVER ONCE did they do so, (there is a speedometer in a communal area so you can tell). In fact they never got near it, the fastest was something less than 150 mph and each journey was subject to inexplicable delays when the trains just stopped for twenty to twenty five minutes or so, with the result that at each destination we were late in arrival. The trains themselves were not particularly comfortable, with no air conditioning and insufficient luggage space for anything other than a brief case or small bag. It was actually a joy to get back on the Chiltern Line at Marylebone where the train was on time, clean and with air conditioning.

Quite why the high speed trains never reached their potential I do not know, (economy, noise, safety???) but it would be interesting to find out.

With the best will in the world for the life of us we simply could not see why our existing networks cannot be upgraded (the Chiltern Line is already spending over £250,000,000 doing just that) rather than spending a huge amount of money, which as a country we are told we do not have, and simultaneously destroying a vast amount of our beautiful and irreplaceable countryside for the sake of speed which in so far as France, Belgium, Austria and Germany is concerned is a lie and a fallacy and actually not required.

From this it transpires that not only is the business case a complete nonsense but the reality of High Speed Trains is equally so.

Regards,

Nick.

The statutory body “The Committee on Climate Change” has announced:

Cutting gross UK aviation emissions in 2050 to 2005 levels together with 90% emissions cuts in other sectors would achieve the required economy wide 80% emissions reduction which has been committed to by the UK under the Climate Change Act.

Yesterday, I learned there is an agile sports car in development which will achieve 75 mpg: very impressive, but cutting emissions by 90% means a target of about 300 mpg. In the meantime, this is what people want, Nissan’s new supercar, the GT-R, spotted on the way home amongst Subaru rally cars for the road:

We should note the presumption by the CCC that it is for government to plan society.

Meanwhile, it turns out there are plenty of peer-reviewed papers which contradict global warming alarmism. I read recently an article which asked “What will it take for the mainstream media to report reasonably on global warming?” I suggest the answer is a more serious “danger to the community” story, one which indicates where planned societies lead.

Plans to impose pay as you drive charges on every motorist in the country have been killed off by Lord Adonis, the new Transport Secretary.

The proposals, which would have seen drivers paying up to £1.30 a mile during the rush hour, will not now be included in the next Labour manifesto.

His decision represents a major volte face by the Government which had once regarded national road pricing as a flagship policy.

via Road pricing killed off by Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis – Telegraph.

Today, I discovered and I am delighted to recommend Pitstop-Racing of Brize Norton.

This is a proper workshop, where you can not only get your suspension set expertly for your own style, you can meet the mechanic and have a conversation about camber, toe-in and understeer. This may not matter to you, but if you are a driver, it will.

The inside shoulders of my winter tyres were chamfered when they came off, suggesting too much toe-out or camber. It’s now set to the maximum toe-in within manufacturer’s limits and the whole is set to my preference. And all for £57.

I got the impression that this is an owner-managed business, which may go some way to explaining why I got exactly what I wanted at a reasonable price from a person obviously interested in engaging with his customer.

Saab in Austrian Alps 3, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

Despite recent heavy snow, roads were clear at all altitudes. Click on the photo for more shots from today.