George Stephenson Quotes

My favourite British line is the West Highland line. It was built across moorland where no one had succeeded in building a road. So everything in that area is there because of the railway line.

In my view, Indian Railways has immense untapped potential.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them.

We shall yet place an iron belt from the Atlantic to the Pacific, a railroad from Halifax to Nootka Sound …

A transcontinental railroad will not be built in my lifetime, or my children’s lifetime, or their children’s lifetime.

Bills should go through committee.

When I went up to Glasgow University in 1967, student life was dominated by 13-hour debates on Fridays, when one of the student political clubs would form the 'government' for the day and attempt to push through a piece of legislation, which the other clubs either supported or opposed.

There are lots of things one can criticise about the European parliament, but it does work pretty well in terms of the speed with which you can vote, the fact that there's room to sit, the fact that there are offices when you arrive.

There's a learning curve to understanding how the Senate operates.

I would say that of many, many difficult aspects of my job as speaker, presiding over a debate on a bill that has an emotional aspect to it on both sides is the most challenging thing that I can think of.

Usually, even when a bill draws extreme opinions, there can be a process of expression and negotiation.

The government takes the opposition day debates incredibly seriously.

In Westminster, I make sure I maximise my ability to represent my constituents. I can do that in a variety of ways: by asking written questions or questions in the House of Commons, through the scrutiny of bills and by sitting on the environmental audit select committee every week, as well as other committees.

It is often quite impossible to gauge the mood of the Chamber in advance, particularly on big occasions. One moment, it is relaxed and good-humoured; at the next, it can be angry and querulous, and the House in this mood can be a formidable arena.

I think the thing that's impressed me the most has been the fantastic professionalism of the officials in the Senate.

I have built already seven very large railway stations: one in Italy; two in Belgium; and in France, and in Switzerland, in Portugal, and also in the United States. And what happens is that stations are not things that come from one day to another, it takes many years.

Parliamentarian rules, the rules of the House, how you get bills referred, really the nuts and bolts that most members don't ever want to know because it's a lot of work. But that's what really makes you successful.

We never said that we don't have faith in Parliament. We have great respect for Parliament.

The budget is forward looking growth engine and will promote transparency and integrity. It is for the common people. This budget shows where we want to take India through railways. It budget aspires for better service, speed and safety. It is an effort to create modern railways contributing towards a developed India.

The Indian Railways will become the growth engine of the nation's 'Vikas Yatra'.

You have to begin to put the infrastructure in place to put in high-speed trains...It should be a national priority. If the French can do it, why cant we?

We focused attention on what some believe are the flaws in the process leading to Senate consideration of the bill and the flaws of the bill itself.

Part of my role, I suppose, is to run government business in the House of Representatives, and try to ensure that people know exactly what's going on in the Chamber is an important part of that.

I have never pretended to be a great House of Commons man, but I pay the House the greatest compliment I can by saying that, from first to last, I never stopped fearing it.

Phyllis is one of the tunnel boring machines for Crossrail and one of the most extraordinary characters I met, visiting some of the most exciting infrastructure in Britain. Crossrail is the new railway which will run from West to East right across London. It is the biggest engineering project in Europe - and Phyllis herself is not exactly dainty.