Kemi Badenoch doesn’t really need to speak in public more than once a month and she’ll do ok. In that respect, keeping her head down is proving very effective.

Sniping from the sidelines and criticising everyone clearly has merit. 🙃

33 minutes ago, Duck Egg said:

The tube? High speed rail network? I gave up using the train to get into Manchester it was so unreliable.

We do have an improving bus service in the NW but culturally as a region, we need to change our attitudes to bus travel. It often feels like it's only schoolkids, pensioners and the mentally ill who use them.

From your comments, I’m guessing you don’t use public transport.

2 minutes ago, BobyBrno said:

Wow! Seems Andy Burnham’s claims about improvements in the transport infrastructure of GM are all wrong.

He really isn’t the Messiah. 😅

I use public transport a lot, here, in England, in Greater Manchester, at all times of the day and it is as good as anything I’ve seen in London, Prague, Sydney and many other places I’ve visited. I don’t know about Brisbane.

not used it but all public transport is 50c a journey

43 minutes ago, BobyBrno said:

Not sure where you live but public transport in GM is pretty good. It’s what our new PM elect has been praised about more than anything else. I use public transport a lot and it’s as good as anything I’ve experienced in many parts of the world. What is it that the south east has that we don’t?

I live outside of GM. Public transport is woeful.

Lovely place to live though, so swings and roundabouts

Bolton trains are way better than they were and one of the main reasons Burnham has done well.

The ULEZ was never going to work so not his finest hour.

I’d say he’s as good a chance as any Labour MP to make a positive difference in number 10. The scrutiny will, as always, be severe.

4 minutes ago, Spider said:

Bolton trains are way better than they were and one of the main reasons Burnham has done well.

The ULEZ was never going to work so not his finest hour.

I’d say he’s as good a chance as any Labour MP to make a positive difference in number 10. The scrutiny will, as always, be severe.

ULEZ has never been given a chance to work in GM, because everyone misunderstands it. It's worked exactly as planned in London.

I've had to use the bus on a daily basis for the last 2 and half years now and I've got to say they are generally spot on in GM. Even if you miss one or it's late you won't be waiting long for the next. Seems to be a good mixture of folk using them aswell. Trains are another story however 😡.

However, when using the Lancashire based buses, they seem to be as equally reliable as GM buses.

1 minute ago, Cheese said:

ULEZ has never been given a chance to work in GM, because everyone misunderstands it. It's worked exactly as planned in London.

Reckon it was about 5 years too soon. Most who were against it have now bought newer vans etc. It didn't affect cars as much

3 minutes ago, Alf Hartigan said:

I've had to use the bus on a daily basis for the last 2 and half years now and I've got to say they are generally spot on in GM. Even if you miss one or it's late you won't be waiting long for the next. Seems to be a good mixture of folk using them aswell. Trains are another story however 😡.

However, when using the Lancashire based buses, they seem to be as equally reliable as GM buses.

aye, it's the trains that are the issue, and Burnham has little control over them - if Manchester is to be the Northern Powerhouse it wants to be, it needs local, regional and trans pennine rail servicves to be far better than they are

and I believe that's where they come up well short compared to London

3 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

Reckon it was about 5 years too soon. Most who were against it have now bought newer vans etc. It didn't affect cars as much

Yep, but most people still think it's a scheme to reduce the UK's carbon footprint. It's literally just about making air less toxic so local kids don't get asthma and that sort of horrible shit.

8 hours ago, Cheese said:

Yep, but most people still think it's a scheme to reduce the UK's carbon footprint. It's literally just about making air less toxic so local kids don't get asthma and that sort of horrible shit.

Sadly, that's because "most people" are thick as fuck

12 hours ago, only1swanny said:

Reckon it was about 5 years too soon. Most who were against it have now bought newer vans etc. It didn't affect cars as much

Went in too heavy too soon.

If have started with anything over 7.5 tonnes having to pay in an outer zone and then more stringent in the city centre.

Then over a clearly set out timeline get stricter on the limits.

The problem in the North is that nothing is joined up.

I live in Yeadon not far from Leeds Bradford airport. There is no train or tram service from the airport. If you are going into Leeds centre it a bus or taxi. A fucking airport with no proper transport links !

I drive when I come over to Bolton for the match takes about an hour and 15. If I decide to use public transport. £7 taxi to Guiseley station. 20 minutes to Leeds station and then to Manc and onto Horwich total journey time well over 2 hours. It ain’t an option really for 4 of us cost over £20 each including taxi and takes twice as long

The really crazy thing is that Leeds to London takes just over 2 hours and I have never heard anyone say that it takes too long. But the Govt were thinking about spending £bns to knock maybe 15 minutes off the journey. Leeds to Manc is an hour, which you always people moaning about. Unless drinking I would always drive even if it involves the M62 !

I guess people will go off their own experiences. I left home at 7.30 yesterday and caught a bus to Bolton, train to Manchester then train to Nottingham. Same on return. All clean modern bus/train and on time. I regularly get trains to Manchester, Wigan, Adlington (and Horwich Parkway) and Clitheroe. True that they aren’t as punctual as the buses but nothing major. That’s my experience anyway.

48 minutes ago, Ani said:

The problem in the North is that nothing is joined up.

I live in Yeadon not far from Leeds Bradford airport. There is no train or tram service from the airport. If you are going into Leeds centre it a bus or taxi. A fucking airport with no proper transport links !

I drive when I come over to Bolton for the match takes about an hour and 15. If I decide to use public transport. £7 taxi to Guiseley station. 20 minutes to Leeds station and then to Manc and onto Horwich total journey time well over 2 hours. It ain’t an option really for 4 of us cost over £20 each including taxi and takes twice as long

The really crazy thing is that Leeds to London takes just over 2 hours and I have never heard anyone say that it takes too long. But the Govt were thinking about spending £bns to knock maybe 15 minutes off the journey. Leeds to Manc is an hour, which you always people moaning about. Unless drinking I would always drive even if it involves the M62 !

HS2 was never about reducing times

It is about increasing capacity

Calling it HS2 didn't help though

2 minutes ago, DirtySanchez said:

HS2 was never about reducing times

It is about increasing capacity

Calling it HS2 didn't help though

absolutely this - it won't in fact reduce times, given the fact that it now doesn't (or won't) immediately terminate at Euston, instead it will stop at Old Oak Common, so I think when you arrive, you'll have to get on the Northern Line to take you to Euston (which will take about 30 minutes)

HS2 is just the most ridiculous project I think the UK has undertaken in recent history

2 minutes ago, Sweep said:

absolutely this - it won't in fact reduce times, given the fact that it now doesn't (or won't) immediately terminate at Euston, instead it will stop at Old Oak Common, so I think when you arrive, you'll have to get on the Northern Line to take you to Euston (which will take about 30 minutes)

HS2 is just the most ridiculous project I think the UK has undertaken in recent history

Not to mention the 50mph average speed cameras on the M6

James Purnell looks like the chief of staff. Actually met the bloke a few times when the ex wife was at DCMS. Nice bloke and very capable. Was impressed with him as at the time he was as anti Brown as I was. Did a brilliant job at The University for the Arts and thought he was good as director of strategy at the BBC when I heard him speak

Decent appointment to start with for me.

1 hour ago, Sweep said:

absolutely this - it won't in fact reduce times, given the fact that it now doesn't (or won't) immediately terminate at Euston, instead it will stop at Old Oak Common, so I think when you arrive, you'll have to get on the Northern Line to take you to Euston (which will take about 30 minutes)

HS2 is just the most ridiculous project I think the UK has undertaken in recent history

We've forgotten how to build

Grantham By Pass started on site 2015 and still is not open, 3.5 km with a bridge deck "slide" over the railway and river.

Original completion date 2019 and now they're saying 2028 with massive increased costs.

Back in the day when I was knee high to a grasshopper at Fairclough's we carried out bridge slides armed with slide rules and a drawing office, we didn't even have calculators... now its all about computer modelling and the youngsters won't progress until the computers tell them every nut and bolt will line up on the day... on site we all accepted the first deck slide would be a minor balls up but with burning gear, tirfor jacks and blood sweat and tears it would get done... then the second slide will go better and so on until you got to the really critical bit such as the railway or canal everything fitted like a glove.

7 minutes ago, Dimron said:

We've forgotten how to build

Grantham By Pass started on site 2015 and still is not open, 3.5 km with a bridge deck "slide" over the railway and river.

Original completion date 2019 and now they're saying 2028 with massive increased costs.

Back in the day when I was knee high to a grasshopper at Fairclough's we carried out bridge slides armed with slide rules and a drawing office, we didn't even have calculators... now its all about computer modelling and the youngsters won't progress until the computers tell them every nut and bolt will line up on the day... on site we all accepted the first deck slide would be a minor balls up but with burning gear, tirfor jacks and blood sweat and tears it would get done... then the second slide will go better and so on until you got to the really critical bit such as the railway or canal everything fitted like a glove.

They're doing some work up the road from me, replacing some waterpipes I think, it's a stretch about 1/4 mile long - the signs say it'll take 20 weeks....20 fucking weeks. The lazy cunts need to get a wriggle on, as it causes me a 2 mile diversion at the weekend when I want to go to town. In Japan or China, they'd have it knocked out in 24/48 hours

Edited June 30Jun 30 by Sweep

1 hour ago, Sweep said:

They're doing some work up the road from me, replacing some waterpipes I think, it's a stretch about 1/4 long - the signs say it'll take 20 weeks....20 fucking weeks. The lazy cunts need to get a wriggle on, as it causes me a 2 mile diversion at the weekend when I want to go to town. In Japan or China, they'd have it knocked out in 24/48 hours

Framework contracts... the contractors will get paid no matter how long they are on site, they have now become totally risk averse and these types of contracts pay them for "managing"... nothing like the old competitive tendering and winning jobs by planning and saving costs by bringing projects in early. No financial penalties and therefore no rewards for the contractor for being "clever".

13 minutes ago, Dimron said:

Framework contracts... the contractors will get paid no matter how long they are on site, they have now become totally risk averse and these types of contracts pay them for "managing"... nothing like the old competitive tendering and winning jobs by planning and saving costs by bringing projects in early. No financial penalties and therefore no rewards for the contractor for being "clever".

That probably explains why there never seems to be anybody there

5 hours ago, Ani said:

The problem in the North is that nothing is joined up.

I live in Yeadon not far from Leeds Bradford airport. There is no train or tram service from the airport. If you are going into Leeds centre it a bus or taxi. A fucking airport with no proper transport links !

I drive when I come over to Bolton for the match takes about an hour and 15. If I decide to use public transport. £7 taxi to Guiseley station. 20 minutes to Leeds station and then to Manc and onto Horwich total journey time well over 2 hours. It ain’t an option really for 4 of us cost over £20 each including taxi and takes twice as long

The really crazy thing is that Leeds to London takes just over 2 hours and I have never heard anyone say that it takes too long. But the Govt were thinking about spending £bns to knock maybe 15 minutes off the journey. Leeds to Manc is an hour, which you always people moaning about. Unless drinking I would always drive even if it involves the M62 !

Every time I use the M62 it’s a shitshow. Was stuck on it 9 hours last year.

49 minutes ago, Sweep said:

That probably explains why there never seems to be anybody there

We used to have a scheme called "lane rental" where the fixed price contractor paid for the road possession out of his contract sum

5 hours ago, Dimron said:

Framework contracts... the contractors will get paid no matter how long they are on site, they have now become totally risk averse and these types of contracts pay them for "managing"... nothing like the old competitive tendering and winning jobs by planning and saving costs by bringing projects in early. No financial penalties and therefore no rewards for the contractor for being "clever".

Not much of that post is true to be honest mate, and we still have lane rental for works on highways .

Some of it could be , ie paid no matter how long on site perhaps, but paid an agreed fee with penalties and responsibility for overrun so it’s not in the interests to be on site and to get the job done . Very few day rates now , price per meter / km on replacement work and badger like fuck if you hit an obstacle that prevents your daily targets .

Risk averse, yes, but that’s a good thing, days of dig deep, throw well back and fuck the consequences so long as the pipes in are well gone .

3 hours ago, Dimron said:

We used to have a scheme called "lane rental" where the fixed price contractor paid for the road possession out of his contract sum

On 29/06/2026 at 18:13, Duck Egg said:

Productivity levels will increase up here to the level of the south east, when we have something approaching the transport infrastructure that the south east has.

Well that's a massive simplification.

Its about things like 'brain drain' as in for 30 odd years people move away for jobs, and they unfortunatly have been down south for many industries. I'd have loved to stay home but 20 years ago, in my sector it just wasnt an option.

And also, Im afraid its bugger all to do with trains and buses but drive as well. Its about big industries attracting the brighest and the best to work in the north.