One of the very few plus points of being unemployed is that you get to delve into the massive list of books that builds up through the times when your life is busier. And some of the best moments of life are when seeking that dodgy mostly dog eared copy of a forgotten Graham Greene classic.One book however crossed my path by accident, when trying to borrow one of Christian Wolmar's books on "Steam railways", I came across a book about the history of the tube in London called "The Subterranean Railway". Quite interested by the bio, I decided to book it out and take home.
The book is readable for anyone whose interested in both the social build up of London, or has an interest in what millions travel on. The one fact that Wolmar keeps mentioning throughout however is that the tube was never profitable, especially the district line. And the railways in general across the world weren't built for profitability, they were claimed they were and shareholders were sometimes foolhardy to invest, but Victorians and to a certain extent early Edwardian "can do" attitude is why Britain still has a good (Beeching cuts destroyed it from being excellent) train system. The tube was built through the sheer excellence of ideas and hard work from the working class navvies. It was one of the first systems that did not determine comfortable conditions and travel by class, and Britain is better for it.
So what is the lesson we should learn for nowadays, as much as the Conservatives (and it is only the Conservatives) complain about borrowing beyond our means (Britain is one of the lowest G8 borrowers in the world), this is the age in which we should learn the determination to build our way out of recession and to create an excellent modern 21st century Britain, dedicated to it's new industry as much as it was to it's old.
One such scheme was the Manchester congestion system, and should it ever return then Government should bring it in, show the improvements and then say we've done our part of the bargain, now it's time you pay yours. The distrust in it being built was the one underlying factor I got from people who would use the system, as opposed to the car owners and car lobby's.
Another would directly prosper one of the poorest areas of this country, Cornwall. Four Hours is far too long for a journey to Bristol by train, and industry by motorway still takes at least three. The worry about rising sea levels and erosion leaves any electrifying, or indeed connection to Plymouth and Cornwall in danger in future years. So the first decision would be to reinstall a line that by passes Dawlish area (though as beautiful as it is) and connects Cornwall and Plymouth with the rest of the country.
Okehampton is the line that was once in place, and still only a few council buildings and houses stand in the way of this reinstall, Victorians would never let this get in the way, and though the house is a home concept is only valid when this kind of thing is proposed, (it's mostly a way of making money) to benefit the area and to save Cornwall from collapsing all together after the awful recent summers have hit tourism hard.
It may cost money, it may not even see returns, but it will socially improve Cornwall and let the people who earn pittance, start to earn pounds.
