5 ms·

Attention grabbing fool

by tomgp 9y ago

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
Yes, although I wouldn't completely dismiss the idea just because it came from him.
- SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
  But you can dismiss the idea because you can already take your car across the channel. OK, it goes into a train that goes in a tunnel under the channel, but this scheme has the virtue of being real and usable today. It I am told that it's running at around 54% percent capacity. It's approximately half-empty. There's competition from ferries too. And that's before Brexit lowers demand. There is no economic case for another highly expensive crossing. Funding the channel tunnel more would be easier and produce faster results. https://twitter.com/Ben_e_lux/status/954467087975673857 https://twitter.com/Ben_e_lux/status/954467087975673857
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    And that's before Brexit lowers demand. We don't really know that, Eurotunnel have stated they don't think it will have an effect. There is no economic case for another highly expensive crossing. We don't really know that either, there is a time cost to using the tunnel, perhaps demand would go up if it was easier.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
      > there is a time cost to using the tunnel, perhaps demand would go up if it was easier. There's a time cost to everything. The trains in the tunnel travel up to "160 kilometres per hour (99 mph)" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel Is there a reasonable suggestion that other options would be faster between equivalent points?
      - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
        Have you travelled on it, because you can't just drive up and get straight on.
        SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
        > Have you travelled on it, Yes, more times than I can count on fingers. As a seated passenger and on a vehicle. As a seated passenger: if you find Kings Cross easy to get to, it's very convenient, and much faster and more relaxing than all the attendant faff of a short flight from an airport. In a vehicle: I get that there are onloading / offloading delays, which is why I'd like to see numbers before I form an opinion on which would be faster, the existing tunnel or hypothetical bridge.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
      > Eurotunnel have stated they don't think it will have an effect. > Eurostar: "should the UK leave the customs union... these new customs obligations would be very difficult to put in place in the restricted space available in stations, and would make our current cargo business (Eurodespatch) economically unviable. ... Divergence between UK and EU rules... would lead to significant cost and complexity for our business. Depending on the nature of any differences between systems, it may not be possible to operate either from an economic or practical standpoint." Honestly, "we don't think it will have an effect" is not the message that I take home from that. https://mobile.twitter.com/mattholehouse/status/954286948520267776 https://mobile.twitter.com/mattholehouse/status/954286948520...
SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
Boris Johnson has a knack for ideas that sound good and distract from bad news. He would like to be inspiring, but he falls short with these pie-in-the-sky projects. This one will be forgotten in a few weeks, along with the bad news that would otherwise have been on the front pages.

Attention grabbing fool

by tomgp 9y ago

Attention grabbing fool

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

Yes, although I wouldn't completely dismiss the idea just because it came from him.

SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
But you can dismiss the idea because you can already take your car across the channel. OK, it goes into a train that goes in a tunnel under the channel, but this scheme has the virtue of being real and usable today. It I am told that it's running at around 54% percent capacity. It's approximately half-empty. There's competition from ferries too. And that's before Brexit lowers demand. There is no economic case for another highly expensive crossing. Funding the channel tunnel more would be easier and produce faster results. https://twitter.com/Ben_e_lux/status/954467087975673857 https://twitter.com/Ben_e_lux/status/954467087975673857
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  And that's before Brexit lowers demand. We don't really know that, Eurotunnel have stated they don't think it will have an effect. There is no economic case for another highly expensive crossing. We don't really know that either, there is a time cost to using the tunnel, perhaps demand would go up if it was easier.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
    > there is a time cost to using the tunnel, perhaps demand would go up if it was easier. There's a time cost to everything. The trains in the tunnel travel up to "160 kilometres per hour (99 mph)" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel Is there a reasonable suggestion that other options would be faster between equivalent points?
    - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
      Have you travelled on it, because you can't just drive up and get straight on.
      - SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
        > Have you travelled on it, Yes, more times than I can count on fingers. As a seated passenger and on a vehicle. As a seated passenger: if you find Kings Cross easy to get to, it's very convenient, and much faster and more relaxing than all the attendant faff of a short flight from an airport. In a vehicle: I get that there are onloading / offloading delays, which is why I'd like to see numbers before I form an opinion on which would be faster, the existing tunnel or hypothetical bridge.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
    > Eurotunnel have stated they don't think it will have an effect. > Eurostar: "should the UK leave the customs union... these new customs obligations would be very difficult to put in place in the restricted space available in stations, and would make our current cargo business (Eurodespatch) economically unviable. ... Divergence between UK and EU rules... would lead to significant cost and complexity for our business. Depending on the nature of any differences between systems, it may not be possible to operate either from an economic or practical standpoint." Honestly, "we don't think it will have an effect" is not the message that I take home from that. https://mobile.twitter.com/mattholehouse/status/954286948520267776 https://mobile.twitter.com/mattholehouse/status/954286948520...

SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago

Boris Johnson has a knack for ideas that sound good and distract from bad news. He would like to be inspiring, but he falls short with these pie-in-the-sky projects. This one will be forgotten in a few weeks, along with the bad news that would otherwise have been on the front pages.