Hmm ? if we'd never had steam trains, I wonder if we would have invented the internal combustion engine and therefore wouldn't have either diesel or electric trains? I'd banish diesel trains to room 101.
Electrification is costly. They only recently (5 years?) electrified the Manchester - Liverpool line, and, to accommodate the overhead wires, they had to lower the track bed to get under each of the bridges - creating a flooding issue. And, of course, it depends on how the electricity is produced.
From a purely emotional angle, I'd revert to steam :)
That would be my choice too Simon ? They're smelly and dirty and noisy too although some may say that Steam trains are just as, if not more noisy! BUT are steam trains really that environmentally friendly or more efficient than a diesel train?
I would say diesel. Steam trains make great tourist attractions, and there will never be enough of them to cause any major pollution or climate change problems.
We've had electric trains for well over a century now, so there's really no good reason why lines haven't been electrified yet. Why do we still need diesels?
