THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS
Those who read Big Website’s UK news edition will have heard quite a bit about “levelling up”, a process currently under the microscope due to an almighty row about high-speed rattlers. Want to travel from somewhere near Coventry to an art-deco station plaza with a glorious vista of Wormwood Scrubs? Step this way, mesdames et messieurs, the Elizabeth Line next awaits, taking you anywhere you like. As long as it’s London or nearby. Want to travel between northern cities, the factory floors of this great nation? Let’s say Manchester and Leeds … “The 9.32 is running approximately 42 minutes late and will be made up of [jerky, computerised voice gets even jerkier] two carriages.” The issue at hand is inequality, of the haves and have-nots, of metropolitan elites in air-con comfort while provincial types chug along in choo-choos Dr Beeching wanted decommissioning.
