Saturday 10 September 2022

to Steve Wright of Railfuture

Hi Steve

Thanks for the phone call.  Good to talk to you earlier.

This railway map shows how the tram, in taking over the 120 Kms Worcester, Black Country, Derby principal mainline "of national strategic significance", nicely destroys it!

The official leaflet with the useful map at the end:

Plan here shows you where the tramline goes but, after 40 years, it is still not too late for Phase 2 of WBHE (Wednesbury, Brierley Hill Extension) to keep the tram down the railway from Cinder Bank roundabout on the Duncan Edwards Way all the way to Stourbridge Jct!:

My guerilla gardening landscape enhancement scheme from the 1990s to this day is against the high rusty iron wall that holds up the north side of High Plateau and the wall is at right angles to the canal embankment in the above plan.  My plants and trees are directly under the viaduct in the plan, above.

To Cllr Ian Bevan in 2020 - long and detailed, so leave for later!
This photo of mine shows part of the canal embankment taken for the 400 metre viaduct on the other side of the road and clock tower in this image.
The 400 metre, heavily mowed canal embankment is a low quality nature site but is very important for sequestering CO2 by the soil, grass and trees.  Desperately needed, so do not cover it with concrete, brick, steel and tarmac for the viaduct!

I think climate adaptation and mitigation must include opposing every luxury, extravagant, totally unnecessary project like "bus on rails" Metro and "the bus that thinks it's a tram" Sprint, too.  Quite apart from the urgent need to cut back on oil and gas use, of course because they are finite - most inconvenient!

 
Similarly, the bizarre, the absurd, the stupid conversion of now two ready built, mainline railways to tramlines, right where we live!  Metro One, opened in 1999 on Snow Hill, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and now Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro on the Worcester to Derby Black Country Railway "of national strategic significance".

SUMMARY
The destruction of part of the desperately needed housing land given to Metro that also obliterates my guerrilla gardening landscape enhancement scheme, plus the only public open space at Merry Hill that are both converted into a 400 metre concrete and steel railway/tram viaduct.  Yet, the trams could stay on the railway to join the trains at Stourbridge Jct railway station under my suggestion that is not done under their plan.  The freight trains would need to operate at night.

The bigger picture:
Here is the 120 Kms Worcester, Black Country, Derby Mainline being broken up into HR, LR, VLR and even, possibly ULR (ultra light rail or the Stourbridge Town Shuttle from Town station to Cottage Street, Brierley Hill where Metro terminates on the 40 year old plan)!!
PHOTOS:
One line nicked by metal thieves!

Best wishes

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