Scandalous, corrupt expenditure hardly exits ecocide!

Metro is coming to slow the public transport journey from Stourbridge into Brum city centre.  Either stay on the bus for a longer, slower route all round the Wrekin, with more exhaust emissions or, change for the tram at Edgbaston Village tram stop and wait up to 15 mins for a tram to take you the rest of the way.

On top of that, with these hefty crash barriers, not a single bus can continue to use the underpass and all eleven bus routes must join the rest of the queuing traffic to go round the roundabout:-

 Five Ways underpass.jpg

Pathetic public transport worsened at £75 m/Km for the deception perpetrated, all style over substance, Hagley Road tram.

£7 m/Km for the 50 Kms rebuilt Borders Railway in 2015 in the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

£21 m/Km for the 43 Kms M6 Toll greenfield motorway in Dec 2003.

£133 m/Km for the 1.7 Kms Eastside Metro tram extension now being built.

£133 m/Km is scandalous; £7 m/Km to rebuild Borders Railway in 2015

"The £227m Birmingham Eastside extension will be approximately 1.7km in length and will run from Bull Street, in the city centre, to Digbeth, adding four new tram stops to the Metro network. More than half of the route is planned to be free of overhead wires, similar to the recently opened extension from Grand Central to Centenary Square. Utility upgrades and diversions for the scheme began in 2020 and construction in Lower Bull Street is also set to begin next month."

MMA website, 18 May 2021

Tweets to MMA

UK Tram Ltd called trams "buses on rails" at the time of the Croydon tram crash in Nov 2016. "Of a total 69 passengers, there were seven fatalities and 62 injured, 19 of whom sustained serious injuries." Please put electric buses straight on the road without bothering with rails! 27 Dec 2020

BRILLIANT! Well done. However, you are spending finite resources and adding to greenhouse gases on replacing perfectly good and acceptable buses and trains that desperately need investment - with trams! This is seriously irresponsible. Espec at £81 m/Km for Eastside extension.

12.2.21:- Jordan, everyone one of us loves the slick, swish, smart trams. But, thousands of us are now inconvenienced forever because, with priority for trams over buses, we have a longer and slower journey into the city centre by bus or by bus/tram. The Five Ways underpass means no buses.

No democratic mandate for this WASTE! Never even one debate and vote in a single Council Chamber out of seven, since 1981, when it all started!

ALL THAT GLISTERS IS NOT GOLD!

No democratic mandate for this WASTE! Never even one debate and vote in a single Council Chamber out of seven, since 1981, when it all started - unlike Edinburgh City Council over their tram and, later, tram extension to Leith and Newhaven!!

"The £227m Birmingham Eastside extension will help transform and support the regeneration of Digbeth through improving connectivity and making the most out of HS2. The 1.7km extension will run from Bull Street, in the city centre, to Digbeth, adding four new tram stops to the Metro network." 10 December 2020 press release from WMCA

This is a shocking expense at £133.5 m/Km of public money when electric buses would be a tiny fraction of the price. And, the money could be used to give EVERYONE free travel in the W Mids and not just my age group!

The Edgbaston tram extension that results in a longer and slower public transport journey from the west, is £75 m/Km of finite fossil fuel use from the public purse.

The M6 Toll was £21 m/Km of private money when it opened 17 years ago.

Rebuilding the 50 Kms Borders Railway through Scotland's Southern Uplands that opened in 2015 was £6 m/Km of greenhouse gas emissions. A big difference from the £133 m/Km for a tram line to be built, only five years on!

Metro is all about competing with Manchester for Brum to be a great, impressive, international city that has TRAMS, too! Very childish, grossly extravagant, over-indulgent and irresponsible. And, more deadly greenhouse gases in the construction and, track replacement every 17/18 years.

Shocking expense at £133.5 m/Km for replacing buses!

A West Midlands Metro extension linking Digbeth with the city centre has moved a step forward with the much-anticipated light rail route now in the preliminary construction stage following approval by the Department of Transport earlier this year.

The £227m Birmingham Eastside extension will help transform and support the regeneration of Digbeth through improving connectivity and making the most out of HS2. The 1.7km extension will run from Bull Street, in the city centre, to Digbeth, adding four new tram stops to the Metro network.

More than half of the route is planned to be free of overhead wires, similar to the recently opened extension from Grand Central to Centenary Square, and construction for the project includes urban realm upgrades for Digbeth High Street ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Extravagance for the authorities; austerity for the rest of us - my definition of corruption!

Extravagance for the authorities; austerity for the rest of us - my definition of corruption!

£750 million for the grand Grand Central Shopping Centre, atrium and concourse with the mainline station put in the basement - tagged along as an afterthought.  Still, on the platforms and in the ‘Stop and Crawl’ car tunnel, poisonous diesel fumes for us all to harm our health.

£190 million magnificent New Library of Brum opened as smaller libraries closed or were given restricted opening hours.  Just like the new library in its second year of opening!

£86.6 million for Midland Metro trams to Centenary Square from Snow Hill Station (less than one mile).

£62 million to promote cycling in Birmingham and to give away 5,000 free bikes to Brummies.

£10 million per mile for Beeching rural line re-opening in depopulated southern Scotland in September.  In this age of austerity, a strong business case was made.  Yet, nothing for the Black Country ICE (inter city express) Line that remains closed.

£100 million per mile for smooth, sleek electric trams to return to Brum city centre to replace hybrid buses.  In this age of austerity, a robust business case made the funding vital.  Yet, nothing for the Black Country ICE Line that remains closed.

£130 million for 1.5 Km (just under one mile) that includes some new trams for the Eastside extension.  In this age of austerity, an unassailable business case was made for the project to go ahead. This is 13 times more expensive than reinstating passenger trains and stations on nearly 50 miles of freight only lines, like the unused Black Country ICE (inter city express) Line.

£1,000 million per mile for HS2 to come to Curzon Street Station in 2026.  In this age of austerity, the business case made this project impossible to deny.  It is absolutely vital for the transport and economic health of the nation.  Isn't it funny, that there is still nothing for the Black Country ICE Line that remains closed to passengers?