Concrete them over - part two
Some time I was getting into arguments that my belief was that the best thing we could do with the rail system in the UK was to turn them into expressways for coaches etc. Unfortunately I didn't have the facts to hand ( which doesn't always stop me) Thanks to the excellent IEA dead tree journal and an article in it I now have the facts.
From Transwatch UK - Road/rail comparisons across the uk
Very much against public and political sentiment roads managed to avoid congestion would offer 3 to 4 times the capacity to move freight and people at one quarter the cost of rail while using 30% to 40% less energy and reducing casualty costs suffered by rail passengers by a factor of 2.
The problem with the proposition is that (a) it is so very much against expectation (b) the numbers are so overwhelming as to inspire disbelief rather than belief (c) few people have ever seen a motor road managed to avoid congestion - the UK road network is (with the exception of motorways and some modern single carriageways) a collection of access roads never designed for motor traffic (d) rail is so romantic.