Give the people what they want: trains (Not what they don’t want: airports)

If it’s good enough for Manchester, it’s good enough for the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, Leeds, York and Newcastle too. The North should mean all The North. Not just Manchester.

Greens4HS2@greens4hs2.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Andy Burnham suggests resurrecting the Northern leg of HS2 to Manchester by changing the way infrastructure projects are funded. If that works for Manchester, why not for the eastern leg to the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and Leeds, too? inews.co.uk/news/andy-bu...

Andy Burnham suggests resurrecting the Northern leg of HS2 to Manchester by changing the way infrastructure projects are funded. If that works for Manchester, why not for the eastern leg to the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and Leeds, too? inews.co.uk/news/andy-bu...

Andy Burnham: I'll resurrect HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester

The Greater Manchester Mayor will use Crossrail-style funding to bring back the northern leg of the high speed rail project

inews.co.uk

“Reasons for things going wrong [include] successive government commissioned reviews, changing objectives and political priorities” - BBC News “Anyway, here’s another change to the specification and the political priorities” - the Labour Government

Gareth Dennis@garethdennis.uk · 4mo ago

Today, the DfT announced its marvellous, magical changes to HS2 to save costs. These changes are: ⭕ Reduce the maximum speed from 360 to 320 km/h 🤖 Remove Automatic Train Operation (ATO) 🚦 Reduce the signalling system (ETCS) specification This will save 2% off HS2's capex. Good idea?

Our dependence on aviation fuel, and consequent pandering to Russia, has become horribly apparent in the same week that HS2 has been value-engineered yet again. This includes a reduction of the trains' speed, which in turn will reduce the shift of passengers from air to rail. Spreadsheet stupidity.

Sam Alvis@samalvis.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The removal of Russian sanctions is shameful. Govt knows this and trying to find a scapegoat. But the idea that the North Sea could ever plug a gap in jet fuel and diesel supplies, let alone plug a gap NOW is unhinged and uninformed www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...

- Subsidising consumption in the face of a supply shock - reducing incentives to drive less/switch to EVs - using up limited fiscal space to help better-off drivers rather than the most vulnerable. Hard to think of a worse policy right now.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 4mo ago

Keir Starmer postpones fuel duty increase ft.trib.al/uGm03GB

Booking a cross-border train shouldn't require five websites, a degree in logistics and a prayer EU Greens are campaigning for a Single European Train Ticket to make travel simple, reliable, and accessible for everyone Sign up to get European rail back on track share.greens-efa.eu/s/lxzxRrKU

Get on board our campaign and demand a Single European Train Ticket. 🎫

share.greens-efa.eu

All the cool kids ride trains.

Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)@bowiesongs.bsky.social · 5mo ago

traveling companions: Bowie and Iggy in Copenhagen, 29 April 1976 (Jan Persson)

Here’s our contribution to the @goodlawproject.org #TransUnityQuilt! (I mean, really, would you expect any less from me?)

so they're closing the West Coast Main Line for a week, huh? the single line connecting London to four of Britain's next five biggest urban conurbations? that's mad, weird that no one's ever thought to build an alternative route, perhaps even one that runs at a high speed, too. crazy

Today is not the day to head into Glasgow city centre if you have respiratory issues. The air is acrid. This is the view from my office. The wind is coming from an unusual, south-easterly direction, so the smoke appears to be affecting neighbourhoods as far away as Woodside.

The closure of Glasgow Central station is exposing the public transport network's lack of resilience. At the very minimum, there should be overground stations at West Street and Glasgow Cross, to allow folks to transfer to the Subway and lower-level lines. We've been talking about this since 2008.

🚨 Latest Video 🚨 #HS2 Euston station and approach BIG update (part 1) ▶️ youtu.be/nzl6VJgKDSU ◀️ #Euston

HS2 Euston Station BIG Update 2026

YouTube video by Rail Focus

youtu.be

Heartbreaking scenes from Glasgow Central this evening. The famous WH Smith is inside the station on this side. To lose it would be devastating. www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/co...

From the glasgow community on Reddit: Corner building with dome now well alight

Explore this post and more from the glasgow community

reddit.com

I am also shocked by the lack of coverage of this fire. It’s so far only affecting the Union Street buildings, but one of those has partially collapsed, from what I can tell backwards into the station. And it’s not yet contained. This is major and more than halfway down BBC’s homepage.

Dr Jamie Gallagher@jamiebgall.co.uk · 7mo ago

The fire at Glasgow central station is utterly devastating. Shops, homes and our transport link to England are being wiped out. I am amazed by the limited news coverage.

"The argument for electrifying our railways will become clearer in time." British Rail, 1979.

Join.greenparty.org.uk

✅ Hope HAS WON! 💪 Only the GREENS can take on Farage 🇬🇧 Politics has changed forever 🪠 Hannah the Plumber is now Hannah Spencer the MP for Gorton and Denton! 🐝 The FIRST NORTHERN GREEN MP 🥀 Labour have been replaced 🚫 Reform's rise has been halted. Hate has been defeated.

On my way! 🚝💃💚

Manchester Green Party 🟩@mcrgreenparty.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🚨 1 WEEK LEFT 🟩 GREENS CAN WIN! We're SO CLOSE! 📢 There's phone-banking from home, leafleting, door-knocking, letter writing + bundling and election day! 👇 Please sign up + share the link gorton-denton.greenparty.org.uk#action-days

Tonight's @railnatter.uk has been about the public transport connectivity of Gorton and Denton, and what the Greens can do to improve it. Worth a watch! (cc: @zackpolanski.bsky.social @greens4hs2.bsky.social) www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAIk...

Can the Greens win the Gorton & Denton by-election? | #Railnatter 296

YouTube video by Gareth Dennis

youtube.com

Fascinating poll: we stack up well... Grn 42% vs Ref 27% Grn 37% vs Con 29% Grn 30% vs Lab 20% #GetGreensElected - #VoteGreen

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 7mo ago

🧵/ With tactical voting ever more common, who do voters back when only two parties have a chance in their seat? Con 31% v Ref 24% Lab 35% v Ref 31% Lab 29% v Con 28% LD 41% v Ref 29% LD 34% v Con 26% LD 29% v Lab 21% LD 26% v Grn 25% Grn 42% v Ref 27% Grn 37% v Con 29% Grn 30% v Lab 20%

Excited to see that the @europeanrailtt.bsky.social is over here. One of my son’s favourite publications, we’ve just been for lunch in the Rusty with it planning imaginary journeys.

You're a year and a half out of date James. Green party policy is to build HS2 in full, to Manchester and Leeds. Labour are the ones stopping HS2 in its tracks. www.google.com/amp/s/labour... www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/gree...

Green Party reverses its opposition to building HS2

Green Party members backed the change in policy at their annual gathering in Manchester.

independent.co.uk

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 7mo ago

"The Green Party has a habit of supporting things in principle and opposing them in practice. It wants environmentally friendly transport, then opposes HS2. It wants clean energy, but opposes wind farms locally. It supports affordable housing, but opposes almost every building project it sees."

That’s not been true since autumn 2024 when @greens4hs2.bsky.social successfully changed Green Party policy to support building HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail in full. We have the most progressive rail policy out of all the parties. Labour are currently selling off the land for the eastern leg.

The mood in Gorton and Denton is clear - Labour have blown it. Only the Greens can stop Reform.

Meet Hannah Spencer - Green MP candidate for Gorton and Denton, and the only vote to stop Reform.

I just do not understand why the Mayor of London refuses to do this. I’ve asked him many times. TfL is a public body and public purpose should be rippled through it like a stick of rock. Taking adverts for fossil products like cars on the TfL network only undermines his transport strategy. 🤷‍♀️

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 8mo ago

“Amsterdam is set to ban climate-damaging advertising [fossil fuel and meat adverts] in public spaces, following a trend spreading across Dutch cities. France has also enacted legislation outlawing adverts from non-renewable energy companies, and one Italian city has plans to do the same.”

We travelled around England & Wales talking to bus passengers about bus stops. Seats, shelter & timetables make catching the bus easier, but not all bus stops have these. A National Bus Stop Standard will help make better bus journeys a reality for all. bettertransport.org.uk/bus-stop-sto...

Some good news. The actual tunnels will be in place. We now need Euston safeguarded for a full 11 platforms, & reinstatement of all plans for the Crewe, Manchester and Leeds sections. @greens4hs2.bsky.social Plan for the future, not just for the next election. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Euston HS2 back on track, say ministers as final tunnelling begins

First of two 1,600-tonne boring machines drilling the 4.5 miles from Old Oak Common station switched on in London

theguardian.com

This is such a daft and revealing line of questioning. I don't think we elect Greens because they don't fly; surely we elect them because they'd deliver the alternatives to flying for all of us? I think the Greens are the only English party to support the delivery of HS2 in full, for example.

Saul Staniforth@saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 8mo ago

#bbclaurak tries to get a gotcha. Zack, you refuse to fly. How can you be a candidate for high office if you'd refuse to ever get on a plane? Well Laura, in that situation I'd get on a plane.