Things going so wrong accelerates the climate emergency and the extinction of life on earth

• Not a single railway line has reopened and only one station was rebuilt in 7 years (the super-duper, the gigantic spectacle of University railway station, with a financial crisis in 2022 to suspend work for months).
• In fact, things have gone backwards, with work begun on the ground in 2019 to destroy the second, even more important railway
  
    "of national strategic significance".pdf
  than the first.
• The first was the mainline between Snow St station and Wolverhampton railway station - turned into a tramway when opened in 1999, would you believe!
• The second destroyer of railways is the shuttle Dudley Tram to Wednesbury tram stop on the first mainline railway.
• Not a single new railway station has opened in 7 years of his mayorship.
• 3 new train stations were begun for a railway line in use but, for decades, without stations for Brummies to use!
• Until the year before Andy was elected, that mainline railway between Brum and Bristol was to be turned into a tramway.  That had been the case for 35 years!
• Only 3.7 Kms of tramways have opened in Andy's 7 years.  They began long before Andy was even thought of as a possible Mayor!

STOP Metro expansion. Instead: Use the hundreds of millions for Fare-Free Public Transport (FFPT) for all and all day and to finish the electrification of buses and trains. Bus/business lanes to reward car commuters who will be incentivised and not enraged to free up road space for essential vehicle users. MORE DETAIL: I'm suggesting a virtuous circle by more reward than penalty to educate and appeal to car commuters that they must free up the limited road space for essential business vehicle users, like buses, HGV drivers, district nurses, midwives etc who have to use their vehicles. These drivers must register to have the right to drive in daytime, Mon to Fri, because of their work. The car commuters who do not register are then picked up by CCTV and fined. The money goes to Fare-Free Public Transport for all and the phasing out of diesel buses for electric. Essential vehicles use the nearside and overtaking lane with traffic light priority for them. Car commuters who pay the penalty every day are only allowed to use the overtaking lane, until they have to turn left. Registered users can use both lanes. This encourages more people to leave their cars at home and jump on a free bus, train, tram throughout the region. Thus healthier, safer communities that are doing more to slow the climate crisis/breakdown and resource depletion. Protect our future and improve our prospects by No more duplication and replacement of buses and trains with trams This saves finite reserves of oil and gas and slows climate breakdown Saves 1,000 trees, shrubs and front gardens on the south side of Hagley Road, if tram expansion was stopped and buses boosted instead. Tim Weller 28 March 2023