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Christmas Cheer for Railways Past, Present and Future
December Issue 2009
 ‘A people that does not look back cannot look forward and there is no more important part of the past than the history and development of railways,’ says Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis.
Speaking at the National Railway Heritage Awards, Andrew Adonis went on to describe the railway as, ‘a living entity, full of potential for the future.’
Adonis has proved a keen convert to High Speed Rail, acknowledging the need for new lines connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland. Next year looks like being a busy one for the railway as Sir David Rowlands reports on the route and initial costings for High Speed 2.
‘You don’t need to imagine the future. You just need to go down to St Pancras and get on one of the Eurostars to see what it would be like,’ says Lord Adonis.
Speaking on BBC radio he went on, ‘Most leading countries in Europe and Asia are building high speed lines…I tend to take the view that the rest of the world isn’t wrong. The reason why (they) have been building high speed lines…is that they are having to address exactly the same challenges we are. If you are going to have a lot more transport capacity between major conurbations how do you do it in a sustainable and environmentally friendly efficient way? The conclusion they are coming to is that high speed rail is the way forward. I think we need to give that a fair hearing in this country too.’
Lord Adonis praised the high standards of entries at this year's National Railway Heritage Awards. Winners ranged from Network Rail and Iarnród Éireann to the North Norfolk Railway and the Arkwright Society.
Full details will appear in a special feature in January featuring photos by RailStaff photographer, Colin Garratt of Milepost 92½ and official photographer to the Railway Heritage Trust. Adonis endorsed confidence in the new rail industry and thanked Sir William McAlpine for his enormous contribution to railway heritage.
Quoting from a RailStaff interview Lord Adonis said, ‘Sir William supported privatisation saying - nobody can run anything worse than the government - you may think that,’ said Adonis clearly looking forwards, ‘but I couldn’t possibly comment.’
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