Class377/5
Established Member
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- 19 Jun 2010
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Been reading this months Modern Railways (September 2010) and the story about the Airport extension getting the green light. The most interesting thing in there was Transport Minster's Norman Baker comments on light rail.
He states that "there is is interestby the government. In light rail in the rest of the country and one of the first things I did as transport minster was to ask the department to initiate a review of light rail costs because I'm concerned that a whole lot of schemes started and were then aborted under the last government".
He adds "My sense is that people will transfer from car to a track more easily than they'll transfer to a bus".
"If we're going to get model shift in our town centres then light rail has got to be considered in that mix"
This has got to be good news and a much more positive attitude to light rail compared to a few years ago. While this doesn't say yes we are going to build more tram systems like Labour did then backed out on, but it does seem that the Tories are looking at it as part of the solution rather than a stand alone project.
With Manchester now getting a huge expansion under way I'm sure the promoters of MerseyTram and the Leeds scheme are watching for the outcome of this review.
With an eye to Europe & money he states "We've got comparisons going on with what's happening elsewhere in Europe so that when the spending review is out of the way, light rail is in a better position to compete for funds than it is at the moment".
Hopefully Manchester's expansion and the success of new lights along with the success of the DLR, Croydon and Nottingham will mean light rail continues to grow and expand in the UK.
He states that "there is is interestby the government. In light rail in the rest of the country and one of the first things I did as transport minster was to ask the department to initiate a review of light rail costs because I'm concerned that a whole lot of schemes started and were then aborted under the last government".
He adds "My sense is that people will transfer from car to a track more easily than they'll transfer to a bus".
"If we're going to get model shift in our town centres then light rail has got to be considered in that mix"
This has got to be good news and a much more positive attitude to light rail compared to a few years ago. While this doesn't say yes we are going to build more tram systems like Labour did then backed out on, but it does seem that the Tories are looking at it as part of the solution rather than a stand alone project.
With Manchester now getting a huge expansion under way I'm sure the promoters of MerseyTram and the Leeds scheme are watching for the outcome of this review.
With an eye to Europe & money he states "We've got comparisons going on with what's happening elsewhere in Europe so that when the spending review is out of the way, light rail is in a better position to compete for funds than it is at the moment".
Hopefully Manchester's expansion and the success of new lights along with the success of the DLR, Croydon and Nottingham will mean light rail continues to grow and expand in the UK.
