Andy Burnham must cut regulations and allow city regions to build more trams if he is to boost growth and jobs outside of the capital, his ally and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street has said.
The prospective prime minister has pledged to devolve more power over decision-making to local mayors when, as is expected, he takes over from Sir Keir Starmer later this month.
Street, who is widely tipped to run Great British Railways, the new body overseeing the country’s trains, has urged him to cut regulations and allow cities to build hundreds of miles of new tramlines to boost regional productivity.
Burnham has repeatedly trumpeted his track record on transport, creating the Bee Network during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, of which the city’s successful Metrolink tram system is part.
Street, who worked hand in hand with Burnham to try and build a new rail line between Birmingham and Manchester after HS2 north was scrapped, said the UK is lagging behind Europe when it comes to building new trams, which he says are greener and more efficient than cars and buses.
He adds that since 2001, 21 French cities have built tram networks, while the UK has managed to deliver just three, with Leeds left as the biggest city in western Europe without a tram or metro system.
A “cumbersome” planning system and onerous regulations has made building infrastructure too expensive in the UK, Street warns, with the average cost to lay tram lines in Britain around double that of the European average.
“This has left many cities and towns disconnected and lacking basic transport links, creating a reliance on more polluting modes of transport,” he writes in an essay for the Conservative Environment Network.
“For instance, 80 per cent of Britons living in urban areas do not have access to a metro or tram, a stark contrast to just 10 percent in Germany. This limits access to employment, leisure, and education opportunities, thereby reducing productivity and choking economic growth,” he adds.
Leeds has long been earmarked for a new tram network after it was permanently closed in the 1950s, with proposals for a “supertram” first mooted back in the early 1990s.
The Leeds tram scheme has been delayed until the late 2030s (Source: West Yorkshire Combined Authority)The city is due to reinstate its tram system but a funding announcement in December last year from the Government meant the delivery date was delayed once again until the early 2030s, although it is hoped construction will begin by 2028.
Last week, Angela Rayner, another Burnham, ally called for Whitehall to stop overruling West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin over plans for a West Yorkshire tram network.
Research has shown trams to be a highly beneficial mode of transport for urban areas as they take up only a single lane of a street, can run as regularly as buses but carry up to 22,000 commuters every hour.
According to Street, regulations developed in the UK 30 years ago has meant any new tram system must first move all utilities, such as pipes and cabling, before a track can be laid, which can amount to around a third of construction costs. No such regulations exist in Europe or the US.
He also calls for wider use of new light railways systems, such as those used in Coventry, that run on shallower track beds, meaning they are cheaper and easier to install.
“When faced with the challenges of air pollution and traffic congestion, trams provide a realistic, reliable and cost-effective solution to some of the challenges of 21st century urbanism,” Street added.
Britain is being left behind by neighbours’ tram rollouts
Since 2001, 21 French cities have built tram networks, compared to just three in the UK. This reflects a deep-rooted issue that British cities and towns, bar London, have struggled to develop efficient, reliable, interconnected public transport networks.
The majority of Britons are missing out on the benefits public transport offers, including a reduction in toxic vehicle fumes and more convenient access to their local areas. Our cumbersome planning regulations and high infrastructure costs are making new networks challenging to build and expand. So why has this happened, and what can be done to solve it?
For instance, 80 per cent of Britons living in urban areas do not have access to a metro or tram, a stark contrast to just 10 per cent in Germany. This limits access to employment, leisure, and education opportunities, thereby reducing productivity and choking economic growth.
This lack of transport was not always the norm. Our predecessors understood the importance of a well-connected public transport network, and how it successfully boosted both our image on the world stage and our economic competitiveness. Britain was home to the first passenger tram, which started operation in 1807, 32 years prior to our European neighbours.
Nevertheless, the shortsighted closure of networks in the 1950s and 60s has meant the UK has fallen behind our European counterparts, who have better recognised and harnessed the environmental benefits and prosperity boost that good regional public transport provides.
Leeds is a poignant example of our flawed approach. The tram closure in the 1950s has left Leeds as the largest city in western Europe without a tram or metro. Plans to rebuild the tram network have been delayed numerous times as attempts to secure long-term funding have failed, most recently in December. Despite these challenges, British innovation is beginning to present a solution to this uniquely British problem.
Building tram networks in the UK is lengthy and expensive due to restrictive red tape and overly complex planning permission. Other countries do not have this level of regulation, meaning they can build more quickly and cheaply while still running safe, successful tram networks. For example, the average cost of building a tramline in Europe is £42m per mile, while in the UK it costs over double that at £87m per mile.
One of the reasons behind this extra expense is that in the UK, unlike in Europe or America, tram projects have to move nearly all the utilities. The relevant legislation is sound, but a code of practice written by the Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee 30 years ago has resulted in this expensive, default approach.
Another way to reduce costs would be to build shallower trackbeds to match the depth used by our European counterparts. British research and development has created some inventive, exciting technology. This includes the new tracks designed for the Coventry Very Light Railway, which are constructed as 30cm deep slabs that clip together and can be laid in weeks, instead of months or years.
British transport infrastructure and innovation has somewhat lost its way from when we used to lead the world with new inventions, like the steam locomotive. But as the West Midlands proves in relation to trams, we still have the skills and expertise to create groundbreaking technology ready to deploy at home and export around the world. When faced with the challenges of air pollution and traffic congestion, trams provide a realistic, reliable and cost-effective solution to some of the challenges of 21st century urbanism.
Andy Street, former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands.
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