The track record

Not surprised that we are again having to play second fiddle to London where our railways are concerned.
Sheffield train stationSheffield train station
Sheffield train station

This government, like every Tory government before it, is happy to spend billions on railways which benefit London and the south east but has no intention of spending anything on railways which would benefit the north.

Just look at its track record of cancelled upgrades to the Midland main line.

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There is still no sign of upgrades to the Hope Valley route.

HS2, if it ever gets started, which I don’t believe it ever will, will be started at the London end and will never get beyond Birmingham.

HS3, which would run from Liverpool to Hull, will remain on the pie-in-the-sky agenda forever.

It is time we in the north got our fair share of the tax revenues we pay into the government coffers.

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Maybe it is time to consider a new government for the north devolved from the republic of greater London which is using our taxes for their benefit.

Dennis

by email

London to Sheffield

Clive Betts says trains between Sheffield and London will take longer.

HS2 for Sheffield will now be nearer Doncaster than Sheffield and even Rotherham with a train connection into the centre of Sheffield.

In future who will want to travel to London from Sheffield but still more important who will want to travel from London to Sheffield?

Eddie Peart

Flood claims archive

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Regarding the very interesting article on the pub auctions, (January 29), the year of the great Sheffield flood was actually 1864 not 1854.

It occurred on March 3, when the Dale Dyke Dam built near Low Bradfield by Sheffield Waterworks Company was being filled for the first time to be a reservoir to provide a clean water supply for the growing population of Sheffield.

A crack in the embankment caused the flood which swept down through Malin Bridge, Hillsborough, the city centre and through Attercliffe towards Rotherham, 240 people were killed and 15 bridges swept away.

Through doing my family tree, I found one of my ancestors, Joseph Nuttall, had a tailor’s business at 19 Nursery Street, which suffered severe damage in the flood. He made a claim for damage and loss of customers garments totalling £5 17s. He was awarded £3.

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Sheffield Hallam University have done a claims archive which can be found on their website for anyone interested in studying it further.

Bev Simmons

Sheffield

Will they ever listen?

I fully agree with the views expressed by R Shaw in the letter published on January 29.

However, it is not just rural communities and NatWest customers who are affected, as widespread inconvenience is being caused by branch closures generally.

The banks tell us that people prefer to bank on line but the queues in the branches which have remained open seem to have got longer, so it appears that there is still strong demand for over-the- counter service.

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You can’t pay cash and cheques in on line and this must create serious problems for many, particularly small businesses and charities.

As R Shaw suggests, it seems clear that banks are more interested in making profits than providing customer service.

Those making the decisions about branch closures are, no doubt, the same ones receiving big fat bonuses as a result of the increased profits.

Once again, shame on the banks.

Will they ever listen to customers?

Chris Jackson

by email

Broom Crescent, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S60

Now that’s a long time ago

The other day I was looking for some music to download from a well known internet music store.

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Whilst browsing up popped an album, NOW That’s What I Call Music 98.

I can remember the first NOW That’s What I Call Music.

Jeremy Biggin

Upperthorpe

Down the sinkhole

Has anyone got any comments on the condition of the road approaching Fulwood village, Brook House Hill. It’s an utter disgrace.

Just how long will it be before we see a car disappear down the sin hole that is starting to appear on the down side?

Then when you get round the corner approaching the village yet more damage in the road.

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How much longer do we have to put up with this shoddy workmanship.

As I said last week doesn’t SCC or its contractors Amey have a quality control manager, it certainly appears they don’t?

If this contract is for 25 years we are certainly not getting value for money, and apparently it won’t be paid until 2042.

They are having a good laugh.

We should be more like Birmingham and Liverpool and sack the contractors off.

Neither are fit for purpose.

MD

S10

Dangers of tram bridge

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Looking more closely at Supertram’s Park square bridge in Sheffield city centre I have become very concerned that there is no protective railing between pedestrians crossing the bridge and Supertram.

I came to this conclusion after seeing children running haphazardly across the bridge unaware of the immediate danger of the moving tram.

Maybe the engineers thought it unnecessary or didn’t take into consideration that people would be crossing close to Supertram.

Any contact there could have only one outcome.

EB Warris

by email