You’d think that Andrew Adonis, the former Secretary of State for Transport who introduced HS2, would have a better idea than most about the realities of daily travel in the regions. It turns out, he doesn’t.
In a tweet on Friday, it seems he encountered a train unfamiliar to him: the Pacer.
What’s this excuse of a train on the line to Harrogate from York! Doors don’t open properly. No heating. Dilapidated. Another higher priority than spending £4.2bn on no deal Brexit planning! pic.twitter.com/YnSy2vUw12
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) April 12, 2019
2 car ancient train-bus Pacer from York to Harrogate literally shuddered to start & I thought it wouldn’t make it out of York station. ‘The doors just about work,’ said the guard after fiddling around when they failed to open
The train is called ‘Grayling’
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) April 12, 2019
The thing is, Pacers were problematic when he was planning HS2, and we’re not the only people to have noticed that:
I think you know the answer to your own question. Your were after all Minister for Transport in the last Labour Government so presumably knew how bad they were even 10 years ago !
— Mike Andrews (@mja_owl) April 12, 2019
Pretty sure Pacer trains were around when you were the SoS for Transport…
— Guy F P Watts (@SirGuyWatts) April 13, 2019
There was justifible anger from some who responded:
Adonis complains about his train
And we are not the only people to have spotted where the funds for transport are
It’s a Pacer Andrew, they existed when *YOU* were Secetary of State for Transport – they were 20 years old and knackered then, now they’re 30 years old and knackered – are you really only just seeing them or are you playing up to the crowd now you have lots of twitter followers?
— Paul (@Paul_CDF) April 12, 2019
Have you only now discovered the joy of the Pacer? We have been banging on about them for years. Weren’t you Minister for Transport and on the Infrastructure Commission? @MichaelSadgrove for info.
— David Twizell (@Twiz007) April 13, 2019
Don’t get up north very often? I’m so glad that 13yrs of a Labour government solved the north’s transport issues and gave us a rail system fit for the 21st century. Altogether now… 🎶Things can only get better…..
— Strikes It Lucky (@StrikesItLucky) April 14, 2019
actually being spent:
It’s due to the diversion of funding to High Spend 2 @madeleynotohs2
— SteveQuack (@steve_quack) April 13, 2019
Tough. As long as you champion the white elephant of #HS2 you have no one else to blame. Overall cost of £58,000,000,000 and rising?
— Andrew Inglis (@AndrewInglis01) April 13, 2019
Some dickhead spent the transport budget on the ridiculous vanity project that is HS2https://t.co/tdfEbDSYjV
— Andres (@Daedalus6) April 13, 2019
If only your 3rd Child #HS2 wasn’t such a spoilt brat and didn’t use up all the pocket money.
— Kirsty Gibbs (@KirstyGibbs11) April 12, 2019
What happened? Some Muppet decided to splurge billions of pounds on vanity project HS2 rather than invest in the current network. Who could that have been 🤔
— Nick Hoadley (@Nick_Hoadley) April 14, 2019
You were Secretary of State for Transport and you clearly had no idea what the railways were and still are actually like outside the Home Counties. You presided over this So your opinion on Brexit hardly counts now does it
— Mitch Plackett-Smith (@MPlackettSmith) April 13, 2019
Rich coming from you. If you hadn’t helped facilitate HS2 we’d have more than enough to spend on existing trains and track.
— Jeff Anderson (@jeffanderson30) April 13, 2019
just think what a replacement would look like if the money for HS2 was spent on the whole system instead
your shock shows how often politicians pop their heads out of the london bubble but tell us that they know what we want— David Ball (@DavidBall14) April 13, 2019
Or HS2. Just accept the north doesn’t just need quicker links to London, but around its own regions
— NA (@Axup86) April 12, 2019