"When you scratch the surface, data suggest that the Midland Metro extensions represent some of the highest costs per kilometre ever seen, anywhere in the World for tram schemes. As a sense of scale, the current average for infrastructure costs per kilometre of light rail corridors or route, is under £30 million.
"Midland Metro Alliance projects report an average of over £100 million per route kilometre as shown in the results: -
Infrastructure Only Schemes 27.93
All Inclusive Schemes 84.91
Midland Metro Alliance Schemes 116.01
• Regardless of how the money has been spent, Midland Metro Alliance projects should be comprehensively reviewed by an independent regulated body, to understand exactly why these costs are reportedly three times the global average."
- In 1981, the W Midlands County Council and its transport arm, Centro launched their 200 Kms, 10 Metro tramway lines to be achieved by the year 2,000 CE.
- For 43 years, Birmingham City Council as the lead authority along with the other six councils, have all been working hard to achieve the wholesale conversion of bus routes and three (now two) mainline railways into a rebuilt tram network that they had only just wiped off the face of Brum and the region twenty years earlier.
- 200 years ago, we were converting tramways to railways. We've learnt nothing in 200 years!
- By their target date of 2,000 they had achieved precisely 20 Kms out of 200 Kms, with a further 3 Kms added in the next 24 years, to today. A quite disgraceful record even by their standards. And on railway lines, too!
- Metro One opened in 1999 but never went as far as even the bus station let alone the Wolves railway station. The latter was finally achieved, this decade, with 700 metres of tramway taking nearly seven years of work on the ground - astonishing!! (Blunders, changes from the top, work having to be redone and, general incompetence, I understand)
- Today, the Metro Expansion Plan remains as 150 miles, 8 lines and 380 tram stops, costing £15 BILLION by the year 2040 (Jan 2020 cost figure). THIS, with a £22 billion black hole in the nation's finances, would you believe!
- But for only two mainline railways to be converted to tramway and no longer the three - some good news!
- So far, at least two 12 month postponements for the Camp Hill line to have its commuter trains and stations back. It is taking an age for three railway stations to be rebuilt.
- The money went on replacing a smaller University railway station with the most enormous station imaginable (the actual tall, substantial building - what will all the rooms be used for?)