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Michael Dnes Profile picture
Michael Dnes
@MichaelDnes1
DfT roads bod. Killed one motorway; failed to build another; wrote about ones that never happened. Nowadays, worrying about e-scooters, parking, AVs and EV.
Bill Fraser Profile picture 2 subscribed
Apr 1 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
This tweet has got a lot of people talking about why Britain seems so short of electric railways.

15 years ago, it was about to be very different. And then things went very wrong. 🧵 Back in BR days, electrification was sporadic. Partly because BR was good at the alternatives.

In the 1960s Britain got rid of its steam trains v fast, meaning switching diesels was the only option.

And they made some very nice diesels, so it felt bearable
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Mar 15 • 26 tweets • 8 min read
This weekend, Britain may be about to have its worst traffic jam ever. Up to five hours of delay for 100,000 drivers or more.

Would you believe me if I told you the reason is because Britain's most hated motorway is too good?

Or that someone had a semi-secret plan to fix that🧵 Image From Friday to Sunday, National Highways will close the M25 (London’s ring road) from junction 10 to 11

It's unavoidable. For the first time in 40 years we're rebuilding one of its junctions – which means demolition work that can’t be done in a night
Aug 28, 2023 • 25 tweets • 7 min read
After the revival of this old thread on UK infrastructure, I realise that I never followed through on my promise: to explain what might speed it up.

Grab a spade, and come with me. 🧵

(thanks to @Sam_Dumitriu and @DavidHenigUK for reminding me) TLDR on the last thread: the system isn’t slowing down because it’s failing – it’s slowing down because people are responding rationally to the incentives they face.

The money shot was this chart – 5.5 years of process you must do _before_ you can start building a road in the UK A very, very complex process diagram
Feb 28, 2023 • 20 tweets • 7 min read
Enjoying the recent @WorksInProgress article by @Sam_Dumitriu on speeding up infrastructure. It made me look back to my time as designer of the UK’s roads programme, and our struggles to speed things up. 🧵 (1/19) Obviously, not everyone is sad when roadbuilding goes slow. But the same rules apply to all infrastructure, notably the clean energy we urgently need. If e.g. you like @edmiliband ‘s plans for a decarbonised grid by 2030, you need to fix the same problems. (2/19) Image