3 The News Issue 12 July 2024 The RGS Gazette seriously, since rollercoasters breaking down isn't such a rare occurrence. It wasn’t until the next day that Thorpe Park released another statement saying that Hyperia would be closed for even longer, and this led to speculation on why such a new ride was closed for so long. The 27th May passed, and much to everyone’s dismay, another announcement was made by Thorpe Park saying that they’d have to keep Hyperia shut until the 8th of June, over 2 weeks after the initial closure. Now people were really curious as to what was going on. Thorpe Park was pretty secretive about what was going on, and it wasn't until the 2nd of June that something started happening. On this day, workers were spotted at the top of the lift hill, which led the media to think that something was wrong with the lift hill. On the 3rd June a crane arrived at Thorpe Park, and on the 4th June workers were spotted working on the top of the lift hill, which pretty much confirmed the theories. At the start of June, the reopening was delayed indefinitely. The 7th June marked a big milestone for Hyperia’s reopening, as testing began – the trains started completing the track with test dummies. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the ride’s reopening, and it wasn’t until the 11th June when Thorpe Park finally announced that it would reopen the next day. As a result, tickets sold out almost immediately, and after 19 days, Hyperia finally has a proper running day. Things finally seemed to be getting back to normal, with the next couple of days being proper operating days. However, on the 15th June, Hyperia had an issue where one of the trains got stuck at the top of the lift hill, leaving riders stranded 236 feet in the air. Luckily this wasn’t too big of an issue, and after 1 hour the riders were safely returned back to the station. As compensation for lost time, the park gave the riders who were stuck on the ride a free “skip the queue” pass (Fasttrack) for a ride of their choice. The next 3 days were normal for Hyperia, with no interruptions. People thought that all the complications were over by then, but this proved to not be true. Surprisingly, on the 19th of June, when testing the ride on the morning before opening time, the train actually rolled back when it didn’t have enough energy to pass through an elevated outerbanked element of the ride. This was very surprising, and happened as a result of the train being too light. When the train is loaded with people, it is heavier, which means it has more energy and speed when going around the track, but on this occasion, the train got stuck on the track. This led to another three day delay, though Thorpe Park has now resolved this issue, with normal opening having resumed on the 22nd June. If you’re like me and enjoy going to theme parks and riding rollercoasters, then you too have probably been closely following the construction and opening of Hyperia, and it’s been a rough time. There have been many closures and breakdowns, with the main closure probably caused by an issue with the lift hill, but hopefully the ride won’t have anymore major hiccups anymore. In any case, the opening of Hyperia marks a significant milestone in Thorpe Park’s history and the theme park industry, so let’s hope the “Golden Goddess” sticks around for a long time! England’s Sewage Scandal Adam Yousuf (Year 12) examines the sewage crisis in British rivers and lakes. It seems inconceivable that, in one of the most developed countries in the world, people have been unable to access clean water. This recent sewage pollution, prevalent particularly in the southwest but also all across England, comes as a consequence of the poor enforcement of regulations against privatised water companies. While shareholders enjoy mass amounts of money, those victim to this disgrace have had to boil their water so it can be drinkable. With a 54% increase in spillages from 2022 to 2023, it is unsurprising that the underlying issues of unregulated waste in water have been brought to light. Our own Thames Water is notoriously inept with numerous incidents of sewage pollution. This has led to cases of diarrhoea (in Devon during May 2024 there were a reported 46 cases) as well as other illnesses that affect the majority of people living in the affected areas. The right to clean water is one that is often taken for granted, with many countries across the world struggling and being reliant on foreign aid; England is usually a benefactor to these countries. And yet, with the quality of water on offer in certain places of the country, one with no knowledge of the global context would be forgiven for thinking that England might be a beneficiary of water aid with the images of faeces in water instead of fish. The gravity of the situation has led to protestors in Falmouth furiously calling for politicians to “cut the cr*p”. As well as numerous cases of sicknesses and disease from exposure to dirty water, many rivers are now too dirty to swim in. Indeed, it is estimated that the total loss to the British economy every year from waterrelated sickness is an incredible £21.7 million. Towns such as Whitstable predict they will take a huge hit to their local economy as their main tourist attraction of water leisure becomes obsolete due to pollution. Further North, those living in the Lake
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