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Tom Forth Profile picture
@thomasforth
Nov 22, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
"Leeds has no room for a tram" is a great new take. Here's Leeds' tram network in 1959.
And now I'm on a website called "Timetable World" looking at tram timetables.
This is pretty much how that Tory MP lost his job isn't it?
Would like to try Phosferrade tbh.
The adverts are ace. (except the racist one, which I've skipped over, because it was very "of its time" and we don't need that today).
Since it's @jimmoran's route --- here's Corn Exchange to Meanwood by tram. In 1951 that was a service every five minutes at peak times, it was timetabled to take 16 minutes, ran from 5am to 11pm. Today the journey by bus takes much longer (27 minutes) and runs a third as often.
@jimmoran I'm going to digitise the 1951 Leeds tram timetable aren't I? #FML
It's proper nuts reading these times. In 1951 on a tram,
Corn Exchange to Elland Road? 14 minutes.
Corn Exchange to Gipton? 16 minutes.
Headingley? 19 minutes.
Kirkstall Abbey? 19 minutes.
Whingate? 20 minutes.
Moortown? 21 minutes.
Crossgates? 22 minutes.
Middleton? 24 minutes.

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More from @thomasforth

Tom Forth Profile picture
Feb 10
Can I make a map in an hour? I'm going to try. The home region of every Member of the House of Lords.
House of Lords expenses are here and when a member makes a claim they report the county (or similar) of the claim. Published in Excel and CSV. parliament.uk/business/lords…
27 downloaded. Now I'll write some code to analyse them. Most people would use R or Python I guess, I'll use C#, because old. Image
Read 20 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
Feb 4
The Chagos Islands for £18bn things is so ridiculous that I can't even process it. I can't even begin to think about whether it's true or not, or good or not, because is just so big it can't possibly be right.
Like if you were in IKEA and a table you wanted was £120,000. You'd just assume the label was wrong and take it to the checkout anyway expecting to pay £120.
At what stage of signing the mortgage form at Ikea for the table would you snap out if it and say "hold on, just checking it's not REALLY £120,000 is it? That would be ridiculous"?
Read 6 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
Jan 17
England has two potential megacity urban areas. Both about 20 million people. Both 200km across. We've already built the blue circle, centred on London, a very strong economy. We could built the red one if we wanted. Currently it's a very weak economy. Image
I don't think the red circle's economy will ever again be as rich as the blue circle's economy. So 60% growth seems out of the question. But 40% growth in the long term feels reasonable. And 20% growth above trend over the next three decades should work. It did in East Germany.
20% growth for the circle means getting its economy up to the strength of the Scottish central belt. We surely can't think that's beyond the realms of possibility? Image
Read 12 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
Dec 1, 2024
The University of Hull is to close its chemistry department.

It said student numbers were "so low that these courses are no longer sustainable".

The chemistry department was rated the fourth best in the UK in The Guardian's University Guide 2024. bbc.com/news/articles/…
I guess the safe thing to say on twitter is "I think this is really bad, not fine, not good, but really really bad" and not hurt anyone's feelings. Keep it a safe space for the anons and not actually think about this, or think about how we might reverse it if we think it's bad.
I worked in the East Riding of Yorkshire's chemical industry. My brother worked in the East Riding of Yorkshire's chemical industry. I applied for further jobs for about a year after a graduated (relevant PhD). Didn't even get an interview. Brother left. Tough sell to be honest.
Read 10 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
Oct 15, 2024
"Why Microsoft Excel won’t die" > because it has long been, and remains, the best piece of software ever written. I am always deeply sceptical of Excel haterz. economist.com/business/2024/…
Today I used Excel, with a colleague, to collaborate in real time. We checked 400 company to domain name matches together. Perfect synchronisation. Then we calculated the data that went into these graphs. Then we made the graphs. It all worked perfectly. Best software ever. Image
Yesterday I finished analysing the results of our economists survey in Excel. I made these graphs and diagrams in Excel. Just fantastic. I use Excel almost every day. From millions of rows to just a handful. Pivot tables to quick calculations. Best software ever. Amazing. Image
Image
Read 9 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
Sep 12, 2024
During Covid we massively boosted NHS funding. It remains high as a percentage of our economy. By some measures (read the article before you rage at me) we've got about 20% more staff delivering no more output. ifs.org.uk/articles/there…

Image
Image
This isn't just an NHS thing. We've got similar stagnant productivity across much of the public and private sector. I focus in detail only on transport. Because no-one can focus on detail beyond a small sector. In transport we can see the inefficiency all around us if we look.
Just in Leeds, we've got,
* free roads that people pay for in time by sitting in traffic.
* short, diesel trains that run too frequently.
* buses that run off peak as frequently as in the peak.
* subsidies that push people off efficiency, big, fast trains onto slow buses.
* ,...
Read 15 tweets

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