Despite Network Rail cutting a key performance target to make improvements more achievable, a bad winter could further derail its plans because it has no margin left for mistakes or problems.
"Now you can't get growing the country for example, growing the economy, growing the population, and continue to move stuff on rail, cutting the speed back, but don't want to add any infrastructure.
The summer of pain for Southern rail passengers plunged to fresh depths after a new hole was discovered under rail tracks, cutting off many services to London.
For others, the hot issue is the prospect of the high speed rail link cutting through their constituencies.
The scurrilous investors in Ankh-Morpork's communications system were an obvious attack on a denationalised rail service, cutting corners and endangering lives, all the while offering meaningless platitudes about "improved directives" and apologies for the inconvenience of being killed.
On Thursday, with the addition of a hole that was discovered under rail tracks, cutting off many services to London, and a signal failure on the south coast, only one in three of the trains scheduled on the emergency timetable ran near schedule on the Southern mainline and metropolitan services, with one in six arriving at the right time.
Notably missing from the discussion of what to do with the High Line ["Which Track for the High Line?," Dec. 31] is the most sensible and beneficial solution: using it once again for rail service, cutting down on the ever-increasing number of trucks entering New York City via its overcrowded bridges and tunnels.
As was the case with the high speed rail tender, cutting corners in a rush to get things done may prove critical if these new markets open before they are ready to operate efficiently.
In his first two terms as governor in the 1970s and early 1980s, Brown blazed the essential early path on renewable energy and energy efficiency, rail, water, cutting edge research, even the beginnings of what has become known as human-caused climate change.
If you are riding off the rail and cutting corners, you may have to pass often and too much passing looks sloppy to the judges.
If you don't need to use it that often, a bare-bones guide rail and cutting head system will cost much less.
