In nearly fifty years of living and working in Wider Birmingham I have seen umpteen of these magnificent transport plans that promise so much and deliver so little, if anything.
I came to Brum in the 1960s when the Victorian New Street Station had just been demolished and rebuilt to be a virtual underground station filled with poisonous diesel fumes. In the 1970s, the Victorian Snow Hill Station went the same way - bulldozed. Realising their error, it was quickly rebuilt but, to only half its former grand size.
In the 1980s and 90s, Midland Metro trams were all the rage but, by 2000, instead of nearly half a dozen new tram lines to replace trains and buses, we had a measly ONE and that was almost entirely built on a rail line that should never have had its trains removed! Even then, it was never extended to New St Station. Extraordinary!
In this year of our Lord and Master, Cllr Albert Bore - 2014, we STILL have the six miles double track rail line through Kings Norton, Kings Heath and Moseley without stations or trains. Nose to tail rush hour congestion alongside an empty double track rail line. Scandalous!
In addition, we have the 13 miles of the Stourbridge, Dudley, Walsall double track rail line also devoid of trains and stations. It goes within half a mile of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, almost next to Dudley Zoo and Castle, very near to the Black Country Living Museum, links with the West Coast Main Line and our precious, one and only tram line at Wednesbury. Empty of trains; not even any ghost trains. Fifty years of unparalleled negligence and, after the stupidity of the line being closed in the first place!
The one triumph was the re-opening of the cross rail line from Longbridge to Four Oaks. Amazing! How was it done? Nothing like it has ever been seen since by our pie in the sky transport experts. But, today things have changed for ever by these same visionary transport officials. We can now rest happy in our beds knowing that things are looking up - at long last!
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