Ducking the issues

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£15 million to boost nation's duckponds!!

Announcing a new strategic research programme, including £15 million of Government funding, Glasgow Tom said:

"This programme will help the industry achieve the challenging long term goals set out in the White Paper, such as doubling rail capacity and further reducing the carbon footprint of rail transport in a safe and cost-effective way.”

According to Tom, before the first projects start in 2009, RSSB will work with DfT and the industry on ‘route-mapping’ - paving the way for an industry vision of what fulfilling the Rail Technical Strategy means, and how the new research programme can support it.

As the Rail Technical Strategy, published last year, lacked any sign of a strategy and implied that hydrogen produced from bionic duckweed would make electrification obsolete in 10-15 years we fear that Tom may have been "badly advised".

Railway Eye doubts there is anything in the document worth spending 15 quid on, let alone £15m.