Welsh speed limits - wtf!

[jon1959]

Was down the Gower over the weekend and in Cardiff yesterday.

The f'in traffic was grim coming down and we diverted off the M4 via Newport due to an accident which was a big mistake and took ages. The 50mph zones on the M4 are bonkers and make the journey a right misery. A new road around Newport is essential as the problem isn't going to disappear and having such crap road links would put a lot of people off business investment in Wales.

Then the reduction in speed limits in C4rdf and elsewhere. Came into Cardiff down the A470 now 30mph then along Heathwood Rd now 20mph.

Someone needs to think this through otherwise the city will come to gridlock.

Yes I openly accept that air quality is important and ideally built up areas should be restricted and zones around schools but unless you have an A1 state of the art public transport system and plenty of parking outside the city it will cause mayhem.

What with the state of transport and roads and the NHS in Wales I living in England has its advantages.

I am not going to get into the 20mph argument on here, but as someone who regularly drives between Sheffield and Cardiff I can confidently say that the motorways around Birmingham are worse than the M4 between Newport and Cardiff - a lot worse.

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

I am not going to get into the 20mph argument on here, but as someone who regularly drives between Sheffield and Cardiff I can confidently say that the motorways around Birmingham are worse than the M4 between Newport and Cardiff - a lot worse.

I was looking at the cost of a train ticket to come down for a game and the prices are nuts. Hardly an incentive to leave the car at home.

[jon1959]

I was looking at the cost of a train ticket to come down for a game and the prices are nuts. Hardly an incentive to leave the car at home.

I agree. The rail system in the UK is scandalous - expensive, confusing, illogical, unconnected and unreliable.

Why do we have to trawl around splitter sites and become black belts in dodging and weaving through different online ticketing systems to come up with the cheapest rail option? Not cheap - but cheapest. End up with a mix of different types of tickets from a range of different stations and it can cost 15% of the price of a ticket (online or at station booking office) of a ticket from A to B.

No wonder tourists and non-regular train users feel robbed and treated with contempt. It isn't like this in most other countries. Surely it should be possible to create an integrated transport system for the UK with affordable ticket prices and a simple, understandable way of getting the best deal - a standard A to B price with a small discount for early booking and maybe a small premium for peak time.

That said, I still think parts of England can more than compete with the South Wales M4 corridor for worst motorway experience.

I have also spent a lot of the last 4 months at the Heath and dealing with different parts of the NHS in Wales (my aunt collapsed in April and died at the weekend) and in my experience - the parts of the NHS I saw - Wales and England are not very different.

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

I agree. The rail system in the UK is scandalous - expensive, confusing, illogical, unconnected and unreliable.

Why do we have to trawl around splitter sites and become black belts in dodging and weaving through different online ticketing systems to come up with the cheapest rail option? Not cheap - but cheapest. End up with a mix of different types of tickets from a range of different stations and it can cost 15% of the price of a ticket (online or at station booking office) of a ticket from A to B.

No wonder tourists and non-regular train users feel robbed and treated with contempt. It isn't like this in most other countries. Surely it should be possible to create an integrated transport system for the UK with affordable ticket prices and a simple, understandable way of getting the best deal - a standard A to B price with a small discount for early booking and maybe a small premium for peak time.

That said, I still think parts of England can more than compete with the South Wales M4 corridor for worst motorway experience.

I have also spent a lot of the last 4 months at the Heath and dealing with different parts of the NHS in Wales (my aunt collapsed in April and died at the weekend) and in my experience - the parts of the NHS I saw - Wales and England are not very different.

Sorry for your loss, RIP.

[jon1959]

Well may be I've been lucky because I've been well looked after by the NHS in the main. Agree some aspects aren't so good but was with my best mate in Cardiff yesterday who is getting palliative care for cancer which has now spread throughout his spine and into his skull and the poor chap has not had the response he ought and in a lot of pain. Horrible to see someone in this condition suffering.

Sorry for your loss, RIP.

Sorry to hear about your mate - and thanks for your comment.

My experience of the NHS in Wales has been generally good - especially where there has been a clear diagnosis and care plan in hospital or home - although not for preventative or community services where it is as bad as England. Once in the system it seems to work well both sides of the border. I do think there has been more effort in Wales to join up health and care services - the hospital and local council response and information is better and more co-ordinated than I have seen in the Manchester and Birmingham areas where my Dad and my Mam were before they died.