from Dave Parsons

Tim

Having read councillor Harleys poor response to your Email on the above subject, as leader of Dudley council Mr Harley has a duty to be answerable and accountable to constituents on decisions the he and his fellow councillors make.  If he cannot stand the criticisms or questions asked from him then he should not do the job.

I take it that councillor Harley knows very little regarding railway infrastructure especially in this area and is therefore given advice by box tickers and other environmentalists who deemed this Metro route through Dudley ( for the sake of image it will bring to a dilapidated town centre, plus other funds given to demolish cavendish house and to regenerate the town centre which of course would not have been available if the heavy rail route through the Dudley tunnel was reopened) a necessity.

“The industry “which he quotes ( I presume he means  Railtrack) who closed the rail route through Dudley no longer exists, but Network rail who still manages the route from Stourbridge to Round oak  are not dismissive that they would never reopen this route through to Walsall or beyond  in the future.

Mr Harley seems to think that the matter is closed but because Mr Harley promoting this Multi Million pound route Metro route through Dudley, perhaps he could explain why it’s terminating at Brierley Hill & not Stourbridge?

In his own words what commercial or viability is that? Not to mention that every 17 years or so the tram rails in Dudley streets will need replacement, which in not an overnight job,and has caused loss of trade as they did when they renewed the rails along the road out of Wolverhampton.

Mr Harley is wrong to suggest that there’s no support to reopen the heavy rail route, many people I know are disappointed by this route being taken over by a tram system that’s costing a fortune, and with the building of the VLR test centre at the former Freightliner depot site at Dudley this completely ruins any chance of freight sharing with trams.

As Mr Street and Mr Harley promote these projects,then they have to accept that they are accountable for the decimation of the Black county rail route.

Regards

Dave

Crystal clear waters v Smog of confusion, dissembling and waste

Crystal clear waters v Smog of confusion, dissembling and waste

Last week, it was the cleaness of a Scottish loch that enabled my wife and I to see clearly to the bottom.  For the first time, Roy and I looked down through crystal clear, deep waters of an English canal to also see the bottom. 

We had biked it to the entrance of Dudley Tunnel at Parkhead Locks - the canal tunnel, this time not the railway tunnel.  It reminded me of the nearby wasted railway "of national strategic significance" that uses the 150 year old Parkhead Viaduct that has not a brick out of place.

The authorities want the commuter and regional trains back on the 120 Kms railway from Worcester, through the Black Country to Derby but insist that only by spending £343 m plus cost overruns on turning 6.7 Kms into a tram line can the regional trains be achieved to complete the full 120 Kms.  That is their confusion.

The dissembling arises from our politicians and transport VIPs telling me that passenger and freight trains will still be able to be used alongside the six to ten trams every hour and every day.  Yet, they know there is only one set of double tracks that cannot be quadrupled.  To put it more baldly: they are lying to us.

The waste of taxpayers' money comes from these same politicians and experts using our money to pay twice to get the trains back through the heart of the congestion choked and densely populated Black Country.  In fact, rising £400 million for the two short sections of tramline blocks for ever the return of commuter and regional trains to deal with the increasing popularity of train travel and ever slower motorway travel.