End of Diesel by 2040?

[cheesysmith]

This was the typical Daily Mail slant on this:

 

Capture.PNG

 

Well we can be sure these trains won't be operating on the mainline in 2040.

 

Still, I`d rather travel on that train in more comfort than a IEP/80x series train.

[Classsix T]

Not being political - BUT

 

It's time we got rid of all our MP's / Politicians / leaders who have no practical and qualified experience of life. Our leaders (especially the cabinet) should hail from the ranks of experienced and qualified engineers, doctors, and yes, lawyers and bankers etc. We need a mix of experienced talent, those that have "done it" and are not seeking self aggrandizement.. Most of them (currently) have never had a real, responsible job / position in society. Towel folding - That's what one ex chancellor did !!!!

 

Brit15

Which is how the POTUS' closest advisors (sic) are chosen Polly. Unelected, unaccountable and able to ensure policy looks after Wall Street, big Pharmacy and defence contractors first and foremost. I'd demand the right to bear arms if that s**t happens in this country.

 

C6T.

[PhilH]

This makes interesting reading, underlining what a complete snafu it all is.

 

https://www.ft.com/content/6fc45d4e-dfed-11e7-8f9f-de1c2175f5ce

 

 

Edit..can't get it to work. It did underline it though!

Edited February 12, 2018 by PhilH

[APOLLO]

Which is how the POTUS' closest advisors (sic) are chosen Polly. Unelected, unaccountable and able to ensure policy looks after Wall Street, big Pharmacy and defence contractors first and foremost. I'd demand the right to bear arms if that s**t happens in this country.

 

C6T.

 

Yes we don't want the American system, our MP's should still be elected by the people as now - just up the caliber / qualifications of applicants somehow.

 

Brit15

[Classsix T]

Yes we don't want the American system, our MP's should still be elected by the people as now - just up the caliber / qualifications of applicants somehow.

 

Brit15

Ah, well now you're getting into the selection process, which primarily is a Party choice and, further along the line, is a matter for the PM.

No easy answer I'm afraid but given the alternatives, I'll stick with what we've got.

 

Civil Servants on the other hand...

 

C6T.

[woodenhead]

Not being political - BUT

 

It's time we got rid of all our MP's / Politicians / leaders who have no practical and qualified experience of life. Our leaders (especially the cabinet) should hail from the ranks of experienced and qualified engineers, doctors, and yes, lawyers and bankers etc. We need a mix of experienced talent, those that have "done it" and are not seeking self aggrandizement.. Most of them (currently) have never had a real, responsible job / position in society.  Towel folding - That's what one ex chancellor did !!!!

 

Brit15

I agree that politics as a career is now attracting the wrong sorts - but in reality people who've been there and done it are sometimes too close to the subject to be completely objective which is what a political leader has to be  - not to say they cannot come from the ranks but a politician needs to be able to rise about the detail and understand the macro picture and operate at that level.  

 

Part of the issue today is that we have two parties poles apart that rip up each other's plans (hmm, not so very different from another country I can think of) and that see-sawing  causes havoc in the Civil Service and means in reality nothing ever gets done, you blame the other party at the start and if you lose the next election it's the electorates fault for voting out before the changes could take effect and the other party swings the policy back their way.

 

What we need is a national voted upon set of principles about where we will spend our money voted by the people and then we 'franchise' it out letting each party sell us their idea about how they will deliver that and we vote for the party who we feel will best deliver what we are asking for.

 

If we all understood better how the government funds things and there was a proper discussion about how that money should be spent and it was cross party rather than being told by each party what they want us to hear then perhaps we could do some proper long term planning that benefits us now and also our children and children's children.  

 

I very much doubt though the current political classes would want something where the people actually had the power to decide things.

[Arthur]

 

 

I'm pretty certain there will still be class 08s operating after 2040.

 

 

I thought it widely recognised that only two things would survive a nuclear holocaust,

 

Cockroaches and 08’s.

 

.

[Bon Accord]

Yes we don't want the American system, our MP's should still be elected by the people as now - just up the caliber / qualifications of applicants somehow.

 

Brit15

 

The only way you'd do that is by vastly increasing the salaries available.

Even then, why would you want to? Our local MP was first elected in 2015 at the GE having only partaken in limited local government previously. Within hours of their election being announced there were journalists knocking on neighbours doors/people in the street desperate for knowledge of his personal life, potential scandal etc. People he knew or at least knew of were receiving unsolicited phone calls from these vultures for months afterwards desperate for any titbits. This was just one man who didn't hold any kind of ministerial position, is not in the party of government and was effectively a total unknown to those in London. What he told us about the sheer magnitude of press intrusion into his life shocked most of us - and he's basically a nobody. God knows what it must be like to be further up the food chain.

[D854_Tiger]

The only way you'd do that is by vastly increasing the salaries available.

Even then, why would you want to? Our local MP was first elected in 2015 at the GE having only partaken in limited local government previously. Within hours of their election being announced there were journalists knocking on neighbours doors/people in the street desperate for knowledge of his personal life, potential scandal etc. People he knew or at least knew of were receiving unsolicited phone calls from these vultures for months afterwards desperate for any titbits. This was just one man who didn't hold any kind of ministerial position, is not in the party of government and was effectively a total unknown to those in London. What he told us about the sheer magnitude of press intrusion into his life shocked most of us - and he's basically a nobody. God knows what it must be like to be further up the food chain.

 

People should be reminded that there was a time when MPs drew no salary and the net-result of that was only the wealthy were able to consider becoming one.

 

Least now, in theory, a humble man or woman from the far north of Scotland, can afford to be elected and receive the kind of expenses that are obviously so necessary to do the job (in a first class sleeper).

 

Though that won't stop them getting flack for it.

[62613]

People should be reminded that there was a time when MPs drew no salary and the net-result of that was only the wealthy were able to consider becoming one.

 

Least now, in theory, a humble man or woman from the far north of Scotland, can afford to be elected and receive the kind of expenses that are obviously so necessary to do the job (in a first class sleeper).

 

Though that won't stop them getting flack for it.

One of the six points of The Peoples' Charter of 1839 was to have salaried members for just that reason - to open up parliament to men (it's 1839, folks!) of modest means; also to reduce the chance of MPs being influenced by 'outside interests .

[Classsix T]

Went Eton too did they? Jolly good show.

 

C6T.

 

(are the Mod's on holiday..?)

[D854_Tiger]

 

(are the Mod's on holiday..?)

 

Don't worry, the most political you can be on this forum is to dare to suggest the class 800 might have adequate power when running on diesel and no one has done that today.

[lmsforever]

I bet they will and they will be employed by Hitachi  !

[Trog]

How are horses on the methane emission front?

 

Fine it is the methane emissions at the back that you have to worry about.

[scottishlocos]

All

 

Does this mean we can go on the last diesel hauled train on Settle and Carlise line in 2040

 

Dave

[jim.snowdon]

I wouldn't put money on it. If you want the sort of power that is required to shift trains, the probability is that it will still be a case of needing internal combustion (diesel), electric (assuming that there has been sufficient investment in electricity generation) or external combustion (steam). But, unless the powers that be say, in a credible way, that diesel is going to be banned, there will not be the impetus for alternatives to be developed to a practical level. The trouble is that politicians aren't good at grasping the timescales involved in railways, let alone industry in general.

 

Jim

[John_Miles]

Politicians like to sound good by promising to do things well into the future. For example there was a promise to get rid of plastics by 2040 or similar. Nothing will happen. This is posturing so they can say they are doing something.

[rab]

You don't need new fangled flash in the pan ideas like that. Solar power is the obvious answer. Sun shines; grass uses light to produce fuel; horse eats grass and refuels; horse pulls carriage up the steep bits; gravity does the rest.

 

Its so obvious and no carbons to worry about.

You forgot to add the bit about

the waste products from the horse

going back into the ground to help

make the grass grow again.

[rab]

Hydrogen fuel cells are a mature technology, there are various fuel cell technologies which are readily available if the world goes that way. They don't necessarily need hydrogen either as you can use hydrogen carriers such as ammonia. Alternatively if battery energy density increases as some predict then that could be a viable option.

I'm never too sure about the environmental benefits of hydrogen technology.

OK burning the hydrogen is a pretty clean process, but how about producing the electricity to create the hydrogen in the first place

[woodenhead]

 

I thought it widely recognised that only two things would survive a nuclear holocaust,

 

Cockroaches and 08’s.

 

.

And Pacers - nothing kills Pacers.

 

In the even of a Nuclear war, the Southerners would be stuck, us Northerners would just turn up at a local station where a Pacer would still be late running.

[jjb1970]

I'm never too sure about the environmental benefits of hydrogen technology.

OK burning the hydrogen is a pretty clean process, but how about producing the electricity to create the hydrogen in the first place

That's always been the problem with hydrogen. The great majority of commercially available hydrogen is reformed from natural gas feedstock, negating its eco credentials. Ditto for hydrogen carriers such as ammonia. However the shift to renewable energy is altering old assumptions and making clean hydrogen increasingly viable.

[jjb1970]

 

 

I thought it widely recognised that only two things would survive a nuclear holocaust,

 

Cockroaches and 08’s.

 

.

You missed out Cher and the GWML electrification masts.

[MarkC]

 

I thought it widely recognised that only two things would survive a nuclear holocaust,

 

Cockroaches and 08’s.

 

.

 

And politicians...so that's 3 things

 

[Dagworth]

I'm starting a new business manufacturing these...

 

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/C9CT8T/vintage-Hornby-railways-winding-key-for-clockwork-model-trains-C9CT8T.jpg

 

Andi

[woodenhead]

And politicians...so that's 3 things

Politicians/cockroaches  - to-mate-to/to-mar-to