Joe Grey

Maps, transport, van-life, overland travel & environment.

Not a cyclist or a motorist, just a person that cycles and drives.

Rail data analyst.

Views my own.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@Captain_Deltic That genuinely is a bit of a shock. Derby was by far the most obvious place for it to be, and the most unlikely place the govt would chose.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

Indian gov't paying for 7,000 route km of railway electrification per year to reduce carbon emissions and fuel security, and improve reliability and efficiency of the transport network.
UK gov't; after a century of railway electrification we still haven't reached 7,000rkm.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@johnillingwort3 @marty_mcd @GarethDennis Worth noting latest stats from ORR (Oct-Dec 22 passenger numbers):

Elizabeth Line: 62.2m pax
All regional (ie non-Intercity service outside of southeast) combined - this includes all services operated by ScotRail, TfWales, Northern, TPE, Mersey, W Midlands, E Midlands: 72.6m pax

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

Q. Why is so much spent on rail in London?
A. Because it's needed.

Oct - Dec '22 passenger usage figures:

Elizabeth Line (one line with two branches at each end): 62.2m pax

Nearly every non-intercity service in Britain outside of the southeast combined: 72.6m pax

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@johnillingwort3 @marty_mcd @GarethDennis Brighton Line (pre-Covid Gatwick & B'ton were among the busiest stations outside of London). And then you have Hastings (size of Lancaster) with the main route partly single track (not to mention no dual carriageway let alone m-way). It's not N vs S it's London vs non-Lon.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@daveprescott11 @RAIL Yum. Better than with that luminous green regurgitated pap...

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@guest_graham @BNHWalker It's similar to Scotland I think

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@claycon You do realise that a lot of the infrastructure being built here is for the line that will serve the town that you're a councillor of? Do you and your voters oppose the East West Rail and Winslow station reopenings?

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@claycon This is 2 railways, the reopening Oxford to Cambridge line (aka East West Rail) and HS2. Both are on old railway alignments and were 'trashed' by the Victorians back in the C 19th. The vegetation grew back to the railway boundary once construction finished then as it will again.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@WilliamNB I can manage Yr Wyddfa, but I'm not sure my non-rhotic southern English accent would do justice to Eryri.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@WilliamBarter1 @RogerDrew8 You know this is futile, William? They have a list of lies & erroneous assumptions. When someone puts them right on one, they stick their fingers in their ears and start a new tweet with the next bit of BS on their list. Once they've done the list, they start again.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@stratfan79 @lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT This goes back to, well, history of society, but in recent centuries resulted in turnpikes, canals, railways, roads, motorways, airports, container ports, and HS rail. It all boils down to monetised JT savings.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@stratfan79 @lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT In fact, thinking about it, that's pretty much entirely what transport is: getting passengers or freight from one place to another economically, and for the user economically means with appropriate speed. Low value goods can be slower, high value goods and passengers are faster.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@stratfan79 @lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT I'm not a transport economist, but I thought that's how every road scheme has been evaluated for the last 50 years.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@stratfan79 @lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT Also LNER. And long distance routes in general.
The odd thing is, we knew that leisure traffic was now higher than pre-Covid, so I was expecting a slump Sept-Nov (traditionally busiest commuting period and lowest leisure), but it didn't happen.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@stratfan79 @lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT Not sure what data they're willing to give, but https://t.co/1bfPCE603A

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@stratfan79 @TrainDriver20 @RogerDrew8 @paulsandham2 The local transport authorities wanting more regular services, distribution cos wanting to run more freight, open access operators wanting to run more regional services, virtually every new project recently creating more demand. Read the rail press, forecasting journals etc.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT No, for various reasons I can't be arsed to go into, because you're not going to change your mind. You may choose not to believe it, but as someone who's worked with rail passenger data daily for 20 years, I can tell you that the underlying trend is still upwards.

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT Domestic aviation is equivalent to about 2% of rail passengers. But due to high environmental costs, transferring to rail (HS2 will wipe out much Anglo Scottish air traffic) is very beneficial

[Joe Grey @joegrey1]

@lordofdisorder1 @AdamWJT In case you hadn't noticed, a rather large event has taken place recent that is resulting in a lot of people reassessing work/life balance, WFH and city living. That takes time.