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    Potential up to 2,000 job losses at Alstom Derby

    Just googled. Talgo is 39.83% owned by Trilantic Capital Partners which is an Anglo-American private equity company registered in New York and London. That still makes it the most British train manufacturer. Ownership nationality only makes a big difference when there is a close relationship...
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    Virgin Group explores the return of Virgin Trains as an Open Access operator

    I think that is spot on. The government sees it as saving the taxpayer money and if they prove the doubters wrong then good for them. The Virgin proposal looks too far the other way i.e. profitable but too abstractive.
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    Potential up to 2,000 job losses at Alstom Derby

    Surprisingly Talgo is 35% British owned. They highlighted it when they were looking to build a factory in Scotland before the pandemic.
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    Virgin Group explores the return of Virgin Trains as an Open Access operator

    There are 1tph of empty off peak fast paths in the WCML timetable. There appears to be a scramble for all of them. I doubt less than 4tpd will be viable so only 2 or 3 of the 4 operators can actually launch services. The government helped the Wrexham and Shropshire proposal by allowing Avanti to...
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    Multi-currency card, what is the best?

    I have used Revolut for about six or seven years and haven't had any problems with it. I know their customer service support is very limited therefore I have never put huge amounts in account at once. I send money from my current account in chunks during a holiday.
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    Are Hope Valley semi fast services practical?

    I agree that six cars are needed all day. If or when that isn't sufficient two semi fasts and two express is probably better than one stopper and three express. Those problems hadn't occured to me. I have only changed at Chinley once and it looked almost derelict!
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    HS2 Scrapped Legs - Referendum

    No. There is a cultural problem in the UK with building stuff and the bigger it is the more opposition there is. There is also the bias of people who will believe that their local transport projects will be more likely to happen if they vote no.
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    Are Hope Valley semi fast services practical?

    Would it be practical to timetable and operate two semi fast services in the Hope Valley and remove all calls between Sheffield and Stockport from TPE and EMR services? - 1tph with the stopping pattern of the current diversionary service. - 1tph of normal stopper service but not calling between...
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    Customs Presence at UK Airports

    Unless your importing a collosal amount then the extra travel costs will wipe out saving on tax. If someone is doing that journey repeatedly they are likely to come onto law in enforcement radar one way or another. People have a very binary view of border controls. The Common Travel Area...
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    Derby Telegraph "Plans to convert Monsal Trail back into railway takes 'significant step forward'"

    If the goal is to improve rail access to the Peak District, how about: 1) Build a station at the end of surviving section of the Ashbourne line. This would provide easy access to Tissington trail for rail passengers and a car park next to A515. A station could be built in the south of Buxton...
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    Eurostar collecting Advance Passenger Information

    Sorry I only saw your second post. I certainly agree that Ireland cannot join Schengen before a united Ireland. The short stay visa waiver program only applies to a specific list of nationalities. My partner needs a visa to visit the Republic later this year. I can't find anything that says...
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    Eurostar collecting Advance Passenger Information

    Have you ever seen a paper national ID? Pre brexit I saw a friend's Italian national ID issued by a consulate and was staggered he could use it to enter the UK and other countries. It must be an obvious target for forgery for anyone who can pass for Italian. If the EUs position was no, why would...
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    Manchester Metrolink (Non speculative discussion)

    None of the expansion plans seem to be making meaningful progress. The lines with the best business cases have already been built. You are right that Metrolink need to focus on their day job. They are unlikely to run a full service across all lines for the majority of 2024.
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    Eurostar collecting Advance Passenger Information

    Ireland is committed to ever closer union and they won’t want to be seen as the new "cherry pickers." The governing coalition seems to want to join the new migration pact in full, despite an opt out because of solidarity. It won't look good if Ireland avoids joining Schengen when it doesn't have...
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    Eurostar collecting Advance Passenger Information

    If there was a binary choice after a united Ireland between continuation of the CTA in its current form or scrapping it entirely I would prefer the latter. People born in Northern Ireland would still have the option of having British citizenship to avoid needing a visa to live in the UK. I...
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    Eurostar collecting Advance Passenger Information

    Depending on their nationality some non EU citizen living in Donegal would need a full visit visa to do that journey on the direct route. The Irish and EU objections to applying ETIAS to Northern Ireland were tourists and residents. A visa waiver agreement for residents of UK and Ireland is long...
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    Eurostar collecting Advance Passenger Information

    Very late in seeing this post. Problems at the UK-Ireland land border seem to be overwhelming North to South currrently..... There was a lot of white privilege in EU complaining about EU citizens being subject to UK ETA visiting Northern Ireland. Non european residents of UK and Ireland need...
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    20 mph Zones - Extend or Eliminate?

    The democratic deficit exists because England with 57 million people is an absurdly large unit for governance but there is a lack of political support to break it into states/provinces/regions like Germany and Italy. 5/6ths of the population in one devolved unit wouldn't work. We shouldn't...
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    20 mph Zones - Extend or Eliminate?

    No. One in six residents of a country signing a petition on anything is huge. Exceeding the Labour vote at the last Senedd election is symbolic. It was a Senedd petition that automatically triggered a debate. Its reasonable that only people living in the jurisdiction of the Welsh Senedd should...
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    20 mph Zones - Extend or Eliminate?

    Some signatures were removed because they belonged to people living outside of Wales. I didn't sign the petition so I don't know how the Welsh government were able to determine the addresses. Its not a strange metric in a democracy. Welsh Labour looked at the level of opposition and decided it...

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