Notes from our meeting this morning

It was really great to meet you, Rob and to hear all you had to say.

My own important points for our excellent Climate Change Cabinet member are these:

• Such is our total dependency on finite fossil fuels for every aspect of our lives: the more we spend the more greenhouse gases are emitted.
• Therefore, Andy Street's £15 billion (Jan 2020 figure) for 8 lines, 150 miles, 380 tram stops by 2040 is completely the WRONG thing to do.
• For example, the steel for the 150 miles of tracks, alone is ruinous!
• Michael Portillo on 'Great Coastal Railway Journeys' (filmed last year) said that for every one ton of steel produced, 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted.  Some of that steel comes up on one track of our Black Country Railway to Tata Steel.
• Concrete for the viaducts and tram stops is also very high in greenhouse gas emissions from the cement manufacture.
• Andy's (and I voted for him in 2017 and 2021 and much like the man) multi-modal transport means more of everything - heavy rail, light rail, very light rail and ultra light rail (Stourbridge Shuttle); Sprint buses ((the bus that thinks its a tram), Platinum buses, hydrogen buses.
• For me, this means a mighty mix-up mish-mash of many modes that cause more delays and changes to discourage modal shift from cars to public transport.  Metro Westside is an example of trams now permanently blocking fast bus travel through Five Ways underpass and only some buses can use Broad Street, entwining with the trams.

BACKGROUND

All our politicians, transport experts, trade unions, train enthusiasts were responsible for the entire tram network wiped off the face of the map in the 1950s to be replaced by diesel buses.

The lot of them are wholly responsible for wiping out one third or more of our railway network in the W Mids in the decades following the 50s disaster.

The 60s also saw the demolition of New St Victorian station and the new concrete monstrosity meant the polluting trains went underground.  Utter idiocy!

The 70s saw the demolition of Snow Hill Victorian station and its immediate replacement with more concrete and only four platforms from the previous eight.

The 80s saw the start of Midland Metro from the W Mids County Council and elected councillor, Phil Bateman that was to be the silver bullet to all our road congestion problems.

The 90s saw the opening of the first tramline on a perfectly good mainline railway out to Wolverhampton Low Level Station and Shrewsbury.  Except, the trams destroyed 3 or 4 Kms of track and the station!

The second tramline was to be opened by the year 2000, according to Dudley leader, Cllr Fred Hunt in the mid-90s in a chat with me.  This was on an even more important mainline railway from Worcester, Dudley, Walsall, Derby.  Only now being built to be opened in the autumn of 2024.  An official 10.7 Kms for £449.5 million (2019 figure when construction started).

The 00s saw the precious pronouncement that light rail was to be the catalyst, the enabler for the return of heavy trains to the 120 Kms Black Country Railway.  "Light rail investment provides the basis for restoring heavy rail services at the appropriate time."

The 10s saw the Laura Shoaf prized comment on BBC 'Midlands Today' of "passive provision" to enable the return of heavy rail trains once the trams have taken it all over!  All it means is that both have the same width of track.  And one set of track for both - totally impossible and unachieved 

2016 was the "bus on rails" tram bypassing Snow Hill station, leaving platform 4 wasted, unused still to this day!  The nearest stop to the station is Bull Street, a walk of 300 metres to the train platform!

The 2020s:-  still no commuter/regional trains on a single stretch of freight only railway lines of which there are 106 Kms in the Black Country and Brum!

NETWORK RAIL and TfWM are the problem

I've been told that Network Rail does not want passenger and freight trains mixing on the same track.

I've been told by Laura that freight trains are not allowed on the 120 Kms Black Country Railway until 2040s, at the earliest.

Big, highly prestigious schemes like Crossrail 1 and 2 and HS2 must have the bulk of the available money for railway restoration.

PER KM CONSTRUCTION COSTS:

£7m for Scotlands' Borders Railway rebuilt in 2015.  54% single track.

£21m for M6 Toll built in Dec 2003

£50m, at 2019, for Wednesbury, Brierley Hill Extension (WBHE).  But, possibly £100 m for Canal Street tram stop to Cottage Street terminal of 1.2 Kms distance.  Saved if the railway line is shared with Tata Steel trains to Stourbridge.

£75m (2017) for Metro Westside to make public transport worse

£133m (2020) for Metro Eastside

£200+ m for HS2.

MY RED LINE, please Rob to ensure, if you possibly can:

The 400 metre viaduct must keep well away from my landscape enhancement scheme, PLEASE, so that the trees are not affected.

Neither must any of the High Plateau housing scheme be taken for the tramline.  Please try and get them to redraw the route line on their plan.  Elsewhere in Europe trains/trams are raised on elevated steel structures over rivers, canals and roads.

MY PINK LINE:

Metro trams use the double track between Tata Steel (Round Oak) and Stourbridge Jct.

The Port Talbot steel trains use their one track at night (not liked by the workers)

OR, the steel trains use one track and Metro uses one track.  Network Rail may prefer this.

PATRICK'S enthusiasm for Metro may well mean that Dudley town shoppers may prefer using the tram to get to and from Merry Hill, to the detriment of Dudley town centre businesses.

THE short-lived 1990s Merry Hill monorail was brilliant for the Weller family!  REINSTATE!!

Best wishes