• Ramifications of "Brexit" for railways

  • Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.
Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.

Moderators: Komachi, David Benton

  by Semaphore Sam
 
Add to the mixture, Mr. Matthews, European Elections due if the issue is not resolved by mid-April, in which the EU does NOT want UK participation.
Interesting times, indeed! Sam
  by george matthews
 
Semaphore Sam wrote:Add to the mixture, Mr. Matthews, European Elections due if the issue is not resolved by mid-April, in which the EU does NOT want UK participation.
Interesting times, indeed! Sam
At present it seems quite likely that the actual date of leaving the EU will be postponed yet again - from the end of next week. That is likely to be until later than the elections for the European Parliament. In that case Britain will have to contest those elections. This question fills many pages of the daily and Sunday press, so that there is too much to write about here in a short paragraph. In any case there is not likely to be much effect on rail traffic. And even now it is by no means certain that Britain will actually leave the EU. A big majority of MPs are opposed to leaving. They may prevent it. Theresa May may be replaced. A coalition between moderate Tories and Labour is suggested. The group of MPs - almost all Tories - who are fanatical about leaving would lose their grip on the government if a cross party administration could be arranged.
  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Mr. Matthews, could 2019 be 1688 all over again for the Mother Country?

While I hope more civility will prevail and Tessie will not see the Tower of London other than as a private citizen tourist, she could easily end up reviled as the worst PM, the modern UK has known, beating out Chamberlain for that dubious title.
  by george matthews
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote:Mr. Matthews, could 2019 be 1688 all over again for the Mother Country?

While I hope more civility will prevail and Tessie will not see the Tower of London other than as a private citizen tourist, she could easily end up reviled as the worst PM, the modern UK has known, beating out Chamberlain for that dubious title.
The situation is developing further. The recent local elections for County and other local governments have seen a huge defeat for the Tory party who have lost several hundred seats - and control of several local governments. It is not clear why the electorate voted against them, but the general air of incompetence may well be the main reason. The main beneficiaries have been the Liberal Democrats, the only unequivocal Remain party. The Labour party, which has fudged its policy caused by a leader who seems to be in favour of Leave and a membership largely in favour of Remain also lost seats, though not as many as the Tories. Are we heading towards a General Election, or a second Referendum on EU membership? There have been increasing calls at meetings of the Tory party for the Prime Minister's replacement. The future seems very uncertain. I think leaving the EU looks increasingly unlikely.

As to rail policy there are also calls for a change there too. The current plan to build a new High Speed line from London to the North is showing signs of costing far more than estimated. There are several other High Speed rail projects - mainly in the North - which would be more beneficial at less cost. A new non-Tory government is very likely to cancel the High Speed route and to invest in some of the other projects. More electrification would also be expected. Unlike the US Britain's carbon dioxide output is reducing, and there are increasing calls to seriously reduce it to zero as soon as possible.
  by johnthefireman
 
ERA issues its first vehicle authorisation
The EU Agency for Railways has issued its first vehicle authorisation, three weeks after becoming the European authorising entity for rail traffic on June 16.

ERA said the authorisation covering conformity-to-type of 30 wagons for operation in multiple countries was an ‘historic step to break down barriers in Europe’...

Cross-border operators can use ERA’s ‘one-stop shop’ tool to access a single integrated process to obtain vehicle authorisations, single safety certificates or to request ERTMS approval...
I wonder what, if any, effect Brexit would have on this? Further down the article it says that Switzerland is able to access it on a case by case basis, so it can apply to non-EU states, but it sounds as if it is much simpler if you are an EU state.
  by David Benton
 
Following the nomination of Boris Johnson to be Prime Minister ,we can probably take the "if" out of our discussions. Or at least we should know in a week or so if defections and resignations don"tforce an election.
  by Gilbert B Norman
 
How 'bout the entire UK, which could well end up comprising only England and Wales (oh and whoops; Bermuda)!

I can't believe Her Majesty's Subjects wish to be on this path to "economic suicide".

Maybe this Wall Street Journal column can offer some insight; failing that; WHY?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-eu ... lewebshare

Fair Use:
Of all the lazy criticisms of Brexit, the laziest is that those who voted to leave the European Union were being “emotional,” not rational. You hear it said most often in London, which voted overwhelmingly to remain.

Yet walking through the Church of the Holy Trinity in this village of fewer than 4,000, I grasped right away why Brexit won. The reason wasn’t emotion but that potent, rooted, ineradicable sense of local and national civilization that is plain to see in England

I defer to our HM Subjects around here.
  by David Benton
 
Interesting , Mr Norman. I have a customer , who is a doctor in Southeast England, who pops over to NZ every British winter.
I was surprised to find he was a strong Brexit supporter.I think the article would be atypical of his views.
I do think in other cases it is a form of racism, or xenophobia. I think many supporters thought it would mean the end of Eastern European immigrants, and brexit lost a lot of support when it was realised that it wouldn't result in the existing immigrants leaving etc.
Another view commonly expressed is they would rather deal with the colonies, such as NZ, rather than Europe. To me this is just nostalgia for an Empire that isn't there anymore , save for sport and royal visits.
  by Gilbert B Norman
 
WOW, Mr. Benton--

I realize the Brits, along with your Queen, still hold "The Empire too, we can depend on you". But in reality, can the Commonwealth provide the trading partners the UK needs in this global economy?

I realize there is resistance to "taking orders" from some distant bureaucracy "over on the Continent" (Brussels) , but really, to participate in today's global economy, what choices has the UK got?

Finally to Mr. Benton in his capacity as Moderator of this Forum; please allow my "off rails" views regarding where the "Mother Country" (I'm quite WASP; my Mother's family name, and my middle, is Browning - I think "Mayflower Third Generation" over here) is going. Ask me, they're committing "economic suicide".
  by johnthefireman
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:09 pm"taking orders" from some distant bureaucracy "over on the Continent" (Brussels)
What a lot of Brexiteers conveniently forget is that Britain is the third most powerful country in the EU and as such has a huge amount of influence on how those "orders" are made in Brussels. A lot of them are in fact common sense regulations which make life easier for everyone in Europe, including the UK - rail standards across the EU are a good example. They are negotiated in good faith between all stakeholders, not imposed in a vacuum.

The same Brexiteers also forget that if we leave the EU, we will still have to trade with them and so we will still have to follow those regulations for much of our trade. Our trains will still have to run through the Channel Tunnel, our ferries will still have to dock in continental ports and our aircraft land at continental airports, what's left of the British manufacturing industry will still want to sell its products on the continent... only this time round we will have no influence on the making of the regulations.
  by ExCon90
 
Is it known yet what effect an unconditional withdrawal would have on food imports from the EU?
  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Whether one's allegiance is to Her Majesty or to a flag, this article is worthy of your attention:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 39996.html

Fair Use:
Brexit has ceased to be the “will of the people” and in a second referendum 55 per cent would vote Remain, analysis of British Social Attitudes Survey respondents has suggested.

The new National Centre for Social Research data also found that just six per cent now think the UK will secure a good Brexit deal - a massive reduction from the 33 per cent who were optimistic about the outcome of negotiations when the Article 50 process was triggered in March 2017.

The findings have led the centre’s senior research fellow Sir John Curtice to warn MPs discussing Brexit in Parliament: “There is seemingly room for debate about whether leaving the EU is still the ‘will’ of a majority of voters in the UK
Who am I to pass judgement on the UK's political process, but to this guy on the "other side of the ditch", it would hardly seem that Boris was "elected by the people" (if he hangs around long enough, then he must). There is no going back once the plug is pulled - and if there is any foundation to the linked material, the people don't want Brexit.
  by David Benton
 
johnthefireman wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:57 am ERA issues its first vehicle authorisation
The EU Agency for Railways has issued its first vehicle authorisation, three weeks after becoming the European authorising entity for rail traffic on June 16.

ERA said the authorisation covering conformity-to-type of 30 wagons for operation in multiple countries was an ‘historic step to break down barriers in Europe’...

Cross-border operators can use ERA’s ‘one-stop shop’ tool to access a single integrated process to obtain vehicle authorisations, single safety certificates or to request ERTMS approval...
I wonder what, if any, effect Brexit would have on this? Further down the article it says that Switzerland is able to access it on a case by case basis, so it can apply to non-EU states, but it sounds as if it is much simpler if you are an EU state.
Thanks for the gentle reminder, Jeff.
quoting John's last rail related post to move it to the top.
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