We looked at the concept of running trains at lower speeds. We looked at using diesels running at 200 kilometres an hour. One of the things we decided was that once you've established a traffic base and you have to do upgrades to the route for any reason, you do great havoc to your ridership. Look at the west coast line between London and Glasgow. They started about 12 years ago upgrading it to a higher speed and electrification. They started off with a £5 billion budget and a five- or six-year timeframe. It took them 12 years and £13 billion to do it. They found their biggest trouble was they could not get the crews on the line for a long enough time period to set up and do meaningful work; they'd have to shut it down because the trains were coming. They eventually resorted to taking it in 30-mile sections and shutting it down for a month or two. The ridership just said goodbye. They weren't going to get on a train and then get on a bus for 30 miles and then get back on a train.
You cannot treat your ridership like that. They are your most valuable resource.