Things have gone seriously wrong with transport in Birmingham and the Black Country!
Since the December 2014 announcement we have all four transport authorities (DfT, Network Rail, West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority and, Centro) backing not only light rail Metro but, the still to be developed by a university group, Very Light Rail (VLR) on the most important UK north-south rail line that can be but has not been reopened since the Beeching cuts of fifty years ago. Up until then, it was well used by passengers for 100 years! It was owned and run by the Oxford, Worcester, Wolverhampton Railway Company. I am referring to the section that is 21 Km of double track line from Stourbridge Junction, through Dudley Castle Hill, Sandwell and on to Walsall. I am calling it the Black Country inter-city Line (BCL).
Having failed with light rail Metro, over the last 34 years, the transport authorities are now trying their hand at VLR and, on 2 Km (out of 21 Km) of the only, unopened, north-south, inter city line between the Hereford-Shrewsbury line in the west and, congested New Street Station in the east. This was the line that they failed to get Midland Metro light rail (LR) on. Not to be put off, they are now seeing if they have better luck with VLR. If they succeed, it will prevent for ever, inter-city trains from London to Glasgow or Bristol to Edinburgh, returning to this nationally important but forgotten heavy rail line via Dudley and its tourist attractions of Castle, Zoo, Black Country Museum and Canal Trust.
This is truly bizarre behaviour when all they have to do is to return existing inter-city and commuter, diesel trains on a line that literally runs alongside or near to commuter congested roads through the heart of three Black Country boroughs. VLR and LR are great to replace the buses feeding into and out of the rail network. There is a longer and much better branch line for the Warwick University group to develop their VLR tram - and, it is still in Dudley borough. But re-opening our closed rail network to passenger trains must have top priority. 72 Km, too of freight only lines!
£300 million is now being spent to re-open the Scottish Borders Railway of 48 Km in rural southern Scotland this coming September but, nothing for the £200 million, 21 Km Black Country inter-city Line that should then be extended to Lichfield, in my opinion - a further 17 Km of re-opened double track. But, for 38 Km it will still be less than the £300 million for the 48 Km that is being spent on depopulated, southern Scotland - a weird and wonderful set of priorities by Network Rail. In fact, scandalous.
My map of Birmingham and the Black Country has one Metro line out of the dozen or so Metro lines that ITA/Centro wanted after these last 34 years. The map also shows the 45 miles (72 Km) of double track freight lines that have no passenger trains and stations. Yet, for about 100 years these empty, unused lines did have passenger trains and stations. For the last 50 years - nothing. In fact, for about 100 years, there were over 100 miles of passenger trains and stations in our growing but far less populated and congested, urban conurbation than it is now. For the last 50 years, nothing, as we all have to rely on the roads and a much diminished rail network. This, at a time when rail passenger numbers have been rising for many years! Is lack of capacity also, partly, due to so many heavy rail lines having been built on and given over to trams (LR and, now, VLR) and guided busways?
No comments:
Post a Comment