Trains (Plain) and Automobiles

Yesterday it was revealed that Birmingham is the biggest emitter of carbon after London in the country. Now it is not surprising that the a***hole of England (look at its position) is the biggest emitter of noxious vapours, and really it is not that surprising that the second city is, well, second. As the report by the Carbon Trust pointed out, there are many unnecessary car journeys in the city which could easily be made using the existing public transport.

It is interesting that this report came out in the same week as the redevelopment of New Street hit the headlines. Mentioned here on this bog before, unfortunately it seems the City leaders are still intent on re-developing New Street at a cost of half-a-billion pound which would increase passenger numbers but not capacity for trains unlike the rival idea of a Grand Central Station. One of the councillors involved claimed re-developing New Street was the only sensible option because it was Birmingham's main station. The truth is that people interested in the history of the railways in this city know that New Street's dominance was a quirk of history caused by BR deciding to electrify the lines through that station rather than the superior Snow Hill, which is only a shadow of it's former self in its re-opened state.

Another potential problem noted by the media is that any potential investment may come hand-in-hand with a congestion charge.

The People's Republic thinks this is another reason to go ahead with the development. After all, currently the consensus is that congestion charges are ten to fifteen years away - and that's too much time to spend being stuck in a traffic jam.