Green light?

Scotland’s transport minister has stepped up demands for Holyrood to be granted further powers over the running of the country’s railways.

Scotrail’s many daily cancellations are being announced by the operator themselves as being due to staff shortages. Difficult to see how this is Network Rail’s fault.

Anne Keown I have a better solution. Let real professionals run the railways. We had that with BR but they were strangled with miserly funding. If the money available now was available to them we would have had a much better system. No money in the pockets of bus tycoons or foreign governments, trains where the drivers had a clear view ahead. We hear of the 44-minute run between Edinburgh and Glasgow but they keep very quiet about the 42 minutes it took in 1982 with diesels.

Alex Moir

That is an interesting argument. It is arguable. I remember the 1970s though. The trains just arrived on time, although you only knew that if you got a free printed timetable. No platform signs announcing the next train which just passes you by. Train seats were dirtier because they used to be empty and we’d put our feet up on them. Life used to be better here. Life still is better in other European nations.

Portrait

Before thinking of anything else to run, the SNP should take over some of what’s already been devolved and which is still being (better?) run by the UK government. The fact is that all devolution should be abandoned – it isn’t working, and it costs the average Scot a fortune in excess taxes.

corrigenda Just remember what happened when TIE and Clackmannanshire Council rebuilt the Alloa line. Late and needed £MMS of structural rework by Network Rail. Aren’t the SNP just a bit scared that Labour will bring back “British” Rail? There was a fundamental reason why Margaret didn’t nationalise the railways...

Andrew Yes, it’s a national network for the UK. Why would you have two systems running the network where one is managed by a government dedicated to being different to the other?

Spooked The SNP can’t run anything properly as they are only interested in independence and how they attempt to get it, something which thankfully looks even further away now after the conference decision re currency. It was the Scottish Government who pared down the amount of double track on the Borders railway to the bare bones against the advice of Network Rail. The result is that the least delay to one train causes the timetable on the route to fall apart. The Scottish Government also pared down the specification of the EGIP project between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The ghost of Sir William Arrol Wonder how much was spent on the research that came up with answers that were pretty obvious in the first place!

Fenella Corr Iwonderifthisisacaseof chicken and egg?

Alan Brown

Obesity develops in children as young as seven because their parents are not providing them with and teaching them about a healthy diet. Emotional problems develop because the parent hasn’t looked after the child’s body and the child becomes self-conscious. This just looks like another excuse for poor parenting to me.

Stef Spode

Hmmmm, I know that kid didn’t purchase that burger! How about bringing home economics back to school to teach kids how to cook healthy at home?

Mary Templeton

There should be an NHS levy on junk food.

Nigel Davis