Thursday, November 20, 2008

Transport - the facts

The propaganda war has got going in Manchester regarding the planned congestion charge and the level of transport improvements. This morning the Metro was wrapped in a load of guff from GMPTE claiming they were presenting "the facts".

As the whole leap of faith on all of this is based on a deal - "money for improvements, then a road charge, trust us" this is an obvious and very important point for GMPTE to drive home. It is also a "fact" - as stated in the timetable - that a fast train leaves Marple at 08:11 for Manchester Piccadilly (it didn't), that a train leaves Wilmslow at 08:26 and arrives at 5 to (it didn't), and that while the 07:28 train left Mossley Hill on time, it is due to stop at Urmston, Trafford Park and eventually Oxford Road (it was too full, so it didn't).

On one hand, the answer to this moan is that the Transport Innovation Fund money will make the world a better place and that the trains will run on time. On the other, you could deduce that the current regime at Northern Rail and GMPTE couldn't run a whelk stall.

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