Infrastructure is one of those long words like perspicacity and marmalade.
Robert has drawn it to my attention as he is considering buying an infrastructure fund. I am old and have a history of ill-chosen investments but R has youth and optimism. We both bought the same fund a few years ago; I bottled out with an 8% gain, he held on and made 80%.
Infrastructure: the basic physical and organisational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.
I would define it differently. Infrastructure projects are expensive long-term visions of what might be what is needed when they are eventually, way over budget, completed. They are commissioned by people who don’t pay for them; that falls to us, the tax payer. Original investors in the channel tunnel lost their money but perhaps it was a worthwhile project. Concorde was a waste of money, although so many enjoyed taking the fast ‘plane that this was never properly audited. I only once went on Concorde. I walked through the fuselage in prototype in Farnborough on a school trip circa 1970.
It’s easy to evaluate these projects with hindsight. Right now there is a new runway for Heathrow – dead in the water I hope: HS2 – I don’t know, quite a lot has been thrown at this already; and the Elizabeth Line. The EL is a tribute to British engineering and design. Should you happen to use it you will, I hope, be thrilled by the station architecture, more awe-inspiring than some cathedrals. You may also notice the abundance of seating on the train. The fact of the matter is that years and years ago a committee decided to burrow through the London clay to make a transport link from the Chilterns to the Essex fens and it’s a ghost line without passengers.
Well, we all make mistakes but TfL is trying to boost passenger numbers. Twice I have used the TfL Plan your Route facility on their website. Both times I have been advised to go out of my way and make unnecessary line changes so that I must use the Elizabeth Line. It’s an underground white weasel.
Dear Christopher
When I travel to France, as I do quite often, I am always delighted by how vastly superior their infrastructure is to ours, particularly roads and railways. I lived in Paris for 10 years and we used to say that the TGV was so marvellous that we almost didn’t mind how high our taxes were!
Best wishes
Charles