The A14 and the Sabbath

We've just returned from a very enjoyable weekend in Cambridgeshire; staying with family and going to Cambourne for a baptism on Sunday. The baptism was held in the new Cambourne Church building as part of the regular morning service. The sermon was one in a series on the subject of 'Sabbath', and focussed particularly on liberation as an aspect of sabbath.

I found myself musing on other aspects of sabbath observance as we sat in traffic for 2 hours following a diversion around a closed portion of the A14. It reminded me of something I had previously observed on a meandering train home from London; a lot of people travel on a Sunday. So why is it that Network Rail and the Highways Agency seem to assume that the Sabbath is a day of rest across the land?

I'm sure that the cost to the nation's economy is less if closures happen on a weekend, but for those of us who only do long journeys on a weekend it feels a bit like victimisation! Is there not some other type of value attached to an efficient leisure journey on a Sunday afternoon? There is in my book, though I'm not sure that will persuade anyone to think about a change of policy.

I suppose we're going to have to get used to the eccentricities of the A14 at some point soon. It will be a road we use frequently once we move to Cambridge, and its reputation precedes it.

Plane wrong

I heard this story on the radio this morning, and wondered whether I was hearing things. It seems to be the case that, in order to maintain our obsession with cheap air travel, the Government's Climate Change Committee are recommending a cut of 90% on other greehouse gas emissions.

Now don't get me wrong; if we can reduce our emissions by this amount by 2050 we should get on with it, but surely we should also be looking to reduce our emissions from aviation by the same kind of amount. Why on earth would we want to give preference to the air travel industry?