Chris Grayling thinks nostalgia can fix the east coast mainline. He’s wrong | Ian Jack
I thrill to memories of steam trains hurtling past my home. But blaming nationalisation for ruining a golden age is misguided Struggling to supply a lick of bright paint to his plans for the east coast mainline, Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, settled on the word “iconic” . He told the Commons on Wednesday that the new, publicly owned operator scheduled to replace the failed Virgin-Stagecoach combine next month will be called the LNER . “One of Britain’s iconic rail brands … the London North Eastern Railway,” he said , getting it half right as usual: the original title had a conjunction – it was the London and North Eastern Railway – which gives a truer idea of its scope. Without the conjunction, it might be a suburban transport network that reaches no further than Enfield. With it, you have a notion of the 500-mile line that connects London King’s Cross to the great cathedrals of York and Durham, and skirts the North Sea all the way from Alnmouth to Aberdeen. Related: Stat...
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