Dawlish News
“We know this is not acceptable, particularly as it’s the first weekend in the school holidays."
The plan had been to get the promenade open on Friday, July 24 but the final stages of concreting have not been complete in time.
Read more...https://www.devonlive.com/news/network-rail-sorry-not-reopening-4355915
sorry just doesnt cut it. Dawlish has had to suffer enough from decades of ineffective maintenance of the sea wall. The wall has endured over a hundred years of the sea but was maintained. The only reason we are having all this work done is because of lack of proper maintenance and trains that cannot endure a bit of sea water.
COMPENSATION IS OWED TO DAWLISH FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS OF WORK THAT WOULD NEVER HAVE HAD TO BE DONE IF THEY WERE NOT SO GREEDY ABOUT PROFIT AND THEIR SHARE DIVIDENDS AND BONUSES....IN MY OPINION.
I thought profits and share dividends are what drives business when deciding what business does or does not do.
Does what is best for communities necessarily come into the equation?
@Lynne....may be so, but when it comes to a private business running one of Britains NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES and being bailed out countless times it should not be the way its run.
All national infrastructures need to be re nationalised.
Network Rail is not a commercial business, it has no shareholders and does not pay dividends, it is a state-run organisation, hence the shambles of the sea wall.
Network Rail may not be a commercial business but wasn't it the case that Rail Track, its precursor, was?
And from what I remember RailTrack wasn't a glowing example of the benefits of privatisation. In fact it was such a shambles that it was taken back in house as it were and became part of Network Rail.
"Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of British Rail, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 2002, after experiencing major financial difficulty, most of Railtrack's operations were transferred to the state-controlled non-profit company Network Rail. The remainder of Railtrack was renamed RT Group plc and eventually dissolved on 22 June 2010."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railtrack
I've just received, privately, the message below. As I couldn't for the life of me think why it should not be posted, publicly, on here, I've done it instead. Here is the text:
"Most of us knew that this would happen. There have been many times I have walked down to the bridge and watched them working with 15 men just standing around of their phones. They worked a lot faster to repair the rail line a few years back."
As I have not been anywhere near the works I cannot comment on what is being claimed with regard to the workers (or perhaps that should be non workers?), in the second sentence. With regard to the final sentence how long ago is a few years back? Are we talking about the repairs needed after the 2014 storm when the track was washed away? What was so different then from now with regard to the speed of work?
I dont understand what all the fuss is about if you go to any large building project there are always folk standing about on there phones or just chatting that's how it is, the culture we live in is get as much as you can for as little as you can.
Thanks Lynne, your post sums it up perfectly! They got the line up and running in two months in 2014 but have taken 12 months to date and have not finished! For months I have witnessed day after day the inactivity of large numbers of workers who are being paid to work!! I have told Network Rail that I am going to formally request, through our useless MP, a Parliamentary inquiry into the costs of the work and the working practices. What proportion of the bill for the wall equates to night working at double pay and why has it taken so long to build?
But at the end of the day we will in the near future be glad that it has been done , and there is no comparison with the 2014 works and what is going on now. In 2014 the only main line into the West Country was put out of action and it was critical to restore the link fast, today there is no panick trains are running the line is intact. The works are to future proof the line against rising sea levels and the increased liklihood of severe storms due to climate change and to protect Dawlish, and remember this is all going on in the middle of a pandemic when a lot of folk are sitting in the sun drinking beer on furlough.
So why have we have we had to put up with 24 hour working? My point is if the line could be reinstated in only two
months why has it taken over a year to do this work? The answer, too many workers spend too much time on their phone!
anyone else Got problems with their keyboard on this site?
mamu workers spwms
@Leatash, got my keyboard back so can do a full reply!
I pointed out to NR in the first consultation that in 2014 the line was breached and they needed to work 24/7 to get it up and running, which we all understood. But, that is not the case in building the Dawlish Berlin Wall! The line is open and so there is no need for night working. I asked why they needed to work through the night and the reply was, costs!! It was cheaper to work 24/7, regardless of the impact on the residents of Marine Parade, to get the job finished as soon as possible. So..... not only have we put up with sleepless nights for months on end but they didn't finish the job on time. They are already six moths behind schedule but still need to come back in the autumn to complete the work and I am sure no one will be held to account for the delays in this massively expensive project!!