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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
Dec 1
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
"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
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
Tom Forth Profile picture
Aug 8
As a Brit I accept that I don't have American style freedom of speech.
But I do have the freedom to hang my washing up outside, unlike most of you Americans with your HOA rules.
Gonna cross a road without mechanised permission later. Might even go wild and cross at the crossing while the man is red.
Some mocking replies suggesting my life is unliveable without air conditioning. "mostly cloudy, feels like 16ºC (61F)" is my midsummer life. The air requires no conditioning. My drink requires no ice. My eyes require no shade. Image
Read 9 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
May 22
I've written about the successes and failures of Scottish devolution and why it's so popular among Scots. tomforth.co.uk/unreasonablesu…
TLDR: it's the economy, stupid. Scotland has outperformed England's since devolution. The overperformance is particularly large in Scottish cities, which have broken out of the productivity trap English cities remain trapped in. Image
When devolution came into force, Scotland's economy was the same strength as the West Midlands. It has since grown twice as fast and overtaken East England. The underperformance of the West Midlands vs. Scotland is two to four Brexits in scale, but England doesn't seem to care. Image
Read 5 tweets
Tom Forth Profile picture
Apr 30
Lots of other good points. Wind farms, free tuition, democracy, etc... but I still think it's the economics that matters most. If Scotland's economy with devolution had performed as badly as Yorkshire's or the West Midlands I think there'd be calls to undo it.
Of course Scots don't track GDP numbers. But a society can feel it's prosperity. Scots have friends, family, and work in places like Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, Bradford, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton. They can feel their relative prosperity and success since devolution.
If Scotland's success is because of fiscal transfers then,... that's a reason to support a mechanism that retains those transfers.
.
But North England and the West Midlands are much bigger recipients of transfers within the UK. Image
Read 5 tweets

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