Tuesday, December 11, 2007

2014 Commonwealth Games - again

I am much taken with an article in the Herald this morning which mentioned the new underground line expected to service the area where the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be held.
In truth the cost of the line will not be that great - there are apparently lots of tunnels under Glasgow which can be used with a bit of TLC.
I rather like the idea that our forebears had the whole infrastucture in place several generations ago, and we - profligate lot - stopped using them and have only now realised the truism that infrastucture is growth and progress. The Victorians knew this instinctively. Quite apart from their genius at engineering, they had a belief in progress and education.
We have largely lost that. We are beset by doubts about what we are doing and even as to whether progress per se is good at all. We have grand projects which will have no legacy ( if you believe this government about the Olympic Games you are seriously intellectually challenged) as opposed to projects which benefit people.
The new railway line will help the whole East End of Glasgow to revive.
Forget the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Look what Ryanair has done for eg Charleroi, perhaps the most depressed area of Northern Europe.
It's only a train without railway lines, delivering people to an area.
And it has done more for the area than 40 years of Belgian Government interference.
If you can say " Belgian " and " Government" in the same sentence

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