HS2 the great train robbery ?
Generally I like the big infrastructure projects I'm currently working on one, but I'm not sure of the value of this project, our railways are Victorian and desperately need an upgrade, but all this dough just to get to London quicker ?, money should be spent but over the entire network and not just on one project, slightly off topic, and as a regular user of the local trains, IMO valley lines have become a poorer service after the recent franchise change. The information board at heath high level into Cardiff side has not been working for months and the ticket machine has been dodgy for 3 weeks at least, maybe it works in the week but it hasn't been working on Saturday's.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Agree with everything you say, rail does seem to be a poison chalice, and I think train drivers / guards wages in some regions are crazy values .
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
I wrote to Chris Grayling some time back requesting that the HS2 project be terminated and got a two page reply from one of his civil servants, admonishing me for suggesting that the project would end up costing many times the original estimate of £30 billion and could not be justified just to get a few business men from Birmingham to London 20 minutes earlier than the current journey time. The rest of the letter was full of waffle about the amazing benefits to trade.
It should be scrapped forthwith and the money spent improving the rail system between the northern cities. (A better service from west Wales to Cardiff/London would be nice too!).
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gofer Blue
I wrote to Chris Grayling some time back requesting that the HS2 project be terminated and got a two page reply from one of his civil servants, admonishing me for suggesting that the project would end up costing many times the original estimate of £30 billion and could not be justified just to get a few business men from Birmingham to London 20 minutes earlier than the current journey time. The rest of the letter was full of waffle about the amazing benefits to trade.
It should be scrapped forthwith and the money spent improving the rail system between the northern cities. (A better service from west Wales to Cardiff/London would be nice too!).
London to Birmingham is the one line where there is a clear choice. You can pay sod all and get a stopper or get a quick train with virgin. It has always seemed fine to me and certainly wouldnt be the first place I would look to if I wanted to improve the transport network in the UK.
Here 'the north' have the house of lords and a train line that means we can get away from you quicker.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
Agree with everything you say, rail does seem to be a poison chalice, and I think train drivers / guards wages in some regions are crazy values .
What does a train guard earn?
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eric Cartman
What does a train guard earn?
Upwards of 36k as a basic plus overtime , in London its 55k upwards
I know of a train driver who earned 90k last year
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
Upwards of 36k as a basic plus overtime , in London its 55k upwards
I know of a train driver who earned 90k last year
I can't find anywhere that says train guards earn upwards of 55k, do you have a source?
The CEO of bet365 took home over 300 million last year. A train driver who derailed the thing every time he took his seat would still be doing less damage to society.
However, I still think 90k is a high wage in the context of wider society and that is why I supported labour's policy to tax those on 80k+ a little bit more. People kept telling me that a) 80k doesn't go far in london and b) it was the politics of envy. Do you agree with taxing those on 80k+ a bit more? Or is it just train drivers you have a thing about?
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eric Cartman
I can't find anywhere that says train guards earn upwards of 55k, do you have a source?
The CEO of bet365 took home over 300 million last year. A train driver who derailed the thing every time he took his seat would still be doing less damage to society.
However, I still think 90k is a high wage in the context of wider society and that is why I supported labour's policy to tax those on 80k+ a little bit more. People kept telling me that a) 80k doesn't go far in london and b) it was the politics of envy. Do you agree with taxing those on 80k+ a bit more? Or is it just train drivers you have a thing about?
In my view they are overpaid and will always want more by holding passengers to ransom, any group of people who call a 27 day strike must be financially well set ,earning far more than the ordinary people trying to get a train to work.
Denise Coates, head of gambling empire Bet365, was Britain’s biggest taxpayer last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Tax List.
She and her family paid an estimated £276m.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
In my view they are overpaid and will always want more by holding passengers to ransom, any group of people who call a 27 day strike must be financially well set ,earning far more than the ordinary people trying to get a train to work.
Denise Coates, head of gambling empire Bet365, was Britain’s biggest taxpayer last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Tax List.
She and her family paid an estimated £276m.
She's like a reverse robin hood, she takes from the poor and gives to the government. Very noble.
Let's compare apples with apples though. Denise's income tax was around 130 million of her estimated 12 billion net worth. Your train driver will have paid around 25k income tax so unless his net worth is circa 2.3 million he will have made a larger tax contribution in terms of his net worth, all while not destroying the social fabric of the country. Magical.
So, your assessment is that every train driver is 'overpaid'. Do you think Denise Coates is 'overpaid'?
Also, I am still waiting for you to show me any evidence of a train guard earning 55k. Part of me gets the obsession you have with train drivers, they earn a good wage for doing something you perceive to be easy. Train guards earn like 30k. You can't bring yourself to criticise somebody for taking home 300 million earned primarily by preying on vulnerability but that ****ing train guard earning the average wage is a right bastard because he went on strike to preserve their working conditions.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eric Cartman
She's like a reverse robin hood, she takes from the poor and gives to the government. Very noble.
Let's compare apples with apples though. Denise's income tax was around 130 million of her estimated 12 billion net worth. Your train driver will have paid around 25k income tax so unless his net worth is circa 2.3 million he will have made a larger tax contribution in terms of his net worth, all while not destroying the social fabric of the country. Magical.
So, your assessment is that every train driver is 'overpaid'. Do you think Denise Coates is 'overpaid'?
Also, I am still waiting for you to show me any evidence of a train guard earning 55k. Part of me gets the obsession you have with train drivers, they earn a good wage for doing something you perceive to be easy. Train guards earn like 30k. You can't bring yourself to criticise somebody for taking home 300 million earned primarily by preying on vulnerability but that ****ing train guard earning the average wage is a right bastard because he went on strike to preserve their working conditions.
Their over paid and militant and hold good people to ransom by stopping them working .
Do your own research on the wages, you seem have enough time on your hands .
You brought up bet365 not me, she pays her taxes doesnt dump it off sure ,why should I criticise a self made woman . I leave the envy politcs to you .
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
Their over paid and militant and hold good people to ransom by stopping them working .
Do your own research on the wages, you seem have enough time on your hands .
You brought up bet365 not me, she pays her taxes doesnt dump it off sure ,why should I criticise a self made woman . I leave the envy politcs to you .
So you made it up then?
You have a loose definition for 'self made', her dad is is an incredibly rich man by his own right. You never heard of Peter Coates?
I don't think many train drivers got their start in life with daddy's money though so maybe you should for once try and be consistent and not criticise them.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
In my view they are overpaid and will always want more by holding passengers to ransom, any group of people who call a 27 day strike must be financially well set ,earning far more than the ordinary people trying to get a train to work.
Denise Coates, head of gambling empire Bet365, was Britain’s biggest taxpayer last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Tax List.
She and her family paid an estimated £276m.
Does that apply to the miners, back in the day? They lasted a year, so must have been rolling in money.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lardy
Does that apply to the miners, back in the day? They lasted a year, so must have been rolling in money.
No because they weren't on obscene wages ,miners were sadly living in poor accommodation and were well below national earning wages, unlike south western train guards who up to 50k .
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
No because they weren't on obscene wages ,miners were sadly living in poor accommodation and were well below national earning wages, unlike south western train guards who up to 50k .
So any group of people means any group of people excluding the ones I like. Different rules for different people in your book.
And less than 50k a year is obscene? The average full-time wage, nationwide that is, is about 35k.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
No because they weren't on obscene wages ,miners were sadly living in poor accommodation and were well below national earning wages, unlike south western train guards who up to 50k .
Don't know where you're getting the "up to 50k" thing from. These are the current advertised roles for SWR and nothing else on the web is showing that they can earn up to 50k being a train guard either.
https://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=Guar...title-salaries
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Heisenberg
I don't know why these freeloaders didn't take a 15 mil loan out against their fathers business and become self-made instead.
Re: HS2 the great train robbery ?
