Advocate, ambassador, champion Andy!

Mr Street will have responsibility for some of the biggest issues affecting the lives of around 2.8m people in the West Midlands.

His powers include control over long-term budgets from central government to:

• Work with business leaders to drive the region’s economic growth and recovery from Covid-19
• Improve transport
• Increase house building and regeneration across the region
• Improve skills and jobs

As Mayor, Mr Street will also continue to lobby Government and act as an advocate and ambassador on the global stage, championing the West Midlands and the issues that matter most to local people.

https://www.wmca.org.uk/news/andy-street-re-elected-as-mayor-of-the-west-midlands/

Railway and bus conversion to tramlines because ...

A spokesman for the Mayor of the West Midlands said: “The extension of the West Midlands Metro tram line, which is now under construction from Wednesbury to Dudley, Merry Hill and Brierley Hill, was identified as the most cost-effective way of providing this improved connectivity for both local residents and businesses.  The most cost-effective at about ten more expensive per Km to construct the tram on roads and railway than to put the commuter and regional trains back on the full, unused length, to finish the ready-built principal, mainline railway.  Existing buses would meet the trains - called integrated transport. 

“This is largely because the use of light rail enables a high frequency service to operate providing direct access to both the heart of Dudley town centre and the Merry Hill shopping centre.  Buses already provide direct access to both!  Trams to Merry Hill will be an additional attraction and spur to desert Dudley town shops.

“This would not be possible with a traditional train service, which would be unlikely to justify more than a half-hourly frequency service and which would be confined to the former railway alignment rather than providing access to those areas to which people actually want to travel.  The railway alignment from Derby to Devon via Dudley or, Burton on Trent to Bristol via Brierley Hill is exactly where people want to travel.  Have buses taking people to the railway station and meeting the train at the other end!

“The West Midlands Metro Wednesbury – Brierley Hill extension will also be connected onto the existing West Midlands Metro line at Wednesbury, providing direct links to Birmingham, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich and will also provide the opportunity to change at Dudley Port Station for local train services.  Having the trains back on the railway line would do all this just as well.  And did do for 100 years until we fell in love with cars and deserted trains in the 60s.

Now, public transport is made worse with, sometimes, an additional change needed with trams added to the mix.  Multi-mixed up transport!  Eg, public transport passengers on the eleven bus routes using Hagley Road.

“Trains stopped running on this route many decades ago and their reinstatement has not been a priority for the rail industry.  The first priority was to destroy railway lines for roads and buildings.  Secondly, for HS1, HS2 and Cross-Rail to be built, instead. However, as a result of the investment in Metro we are seeing a number of bridges and structures along the route repaired or removed and rebuilt. This could potentially open up options longer term for the development of freight and passenger rail services, in parallel with Metro, along the wider Walsall to Stourbridge route in future.”  The existing or new bridges and tunnels are NOT being widened to take trains and trams in parallel.  Only freight trains may be possible at night when the trams are not running.  The experts are wrong.  The false and misleading magic of "passive provision" was always made up, concocted, to brush off those who had seen through their bad practice.  Indeed, their folly.

John Davison

It is true that you could not run freight trains along the route once the two tracks of the tram are laid. It was a two track railway and the tram is two track.

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• Tim Weller

  Thanks, John. But can the freight run at night?

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• John Davison

  only if the tram tracks are built to 'heavy rail' standards could a standard train run on them. There would be junctions so that freight trains would not run on the street sections that will have sharp curves. Then you get onto signalling. Midland Metro is almost entirely 'line of sight' with almost no signalling.

We have voting for a figurehead Mayor ...

LETTERS PAGE

We have voting for a "figurehead" (Jonathan Walker) Mayor with no official powers when Chairing Combined Authority Board meetings.  Andy is an excellent spokesperson and public relations man but, he told us in May 2017, with "no formal powers" (BBC 'Today' interview).

Scandalously, there is never allowed a single debate and voting to spend £15 BILLION (of greenhouse gases) to 2040 to convert our mass rapid transit system of buses and trains to one of trams, buses and trains to cause further changes and delays in using public transport.

Yet, in Scotland, they do uphold democracy with debates and votes before going ahead with their tram extension in Edinburgh.

And, this, at a time of climate emergency when we are meant to be drastically cutting greenhouse gases - urgently!

First duty of government

Thanks for using my question at the very end, after a worthwhile hour.  You very properly missed out the last few words about how low-income people are, too often certainly in the Thatcher decade, being expected to pull themselves up by their bootlaces.  I feel a duty, a conscience to help them out financially/practically.  The well off can look after themselves in a way that the poor cannot.  The first duty of government is to look after those at the bottom of the pile who have no-one to help them and to ensure a much more sustainable, justice-centric and equitable society.

I think the 6 Mayor elections should be postponed because of the risk from these more virulent variants that are around - nominations that need collecting and all the people at the count.

You need to remain as Mayor with a postponed election!

Best wishes

Tim

PHOTOS to smile over:

 M6 Toll banner 01.jpg

 M6 Toll 03.jpg

Half a billion destroys the above half-finished 120 Kms railway and these trees, all for a 'shuttle' tramline that does not even connect with the two stranded mainline railway sections!  So what is the point of doing it?

 6 glorious white trees.jpg

More Covid election spread when the Mayor has "no formal powers"

Should we risk Covid spread when the Mayor has no formal powers and is the excellent figurehead for the WMCA, only?

Thanks for the email.

Last Friday, we had the announcement of the 6 May elections going ahead.  However, when journalist Jonathan Walker correctly calls the Mayor position a figurehead and, within a month of being elected in May 2017, Andy himself was conceding that he has "no formal powers", in an interview on the 'Today' programme, should many hundreds of political workers and reporters risk getting Covid, themselves and spreading it?

Should, perhaps the post of Mayor be subject to an open and fair selection (not election) process on Andy's retirement or resignation?

What do you think, Andi?  Are you happy with GP workers getting 105 valid nominations for Steve Caudwell and helping to spread Covid and, even more virulent variants?  I don't think I am!

MY CONDITIONS FOR WITHDRAWING TO FAVOUR ANDY

And copied into the Mayor's Office for their information and action to get me on board, out of the running and well out of the way - please!  MAYOR'S OFFICE, please confirm receipt and action, quickly.

My conditions for withdrawing to help Andy in 2020

I also think Andy was an excellent choice and hope he gets in, again next year.  I do like him and support him whenever I can.  I really don't want to take votes off him, if I do go ahead with standing as an Independent.  But, he must be outspoken against tram extensions; but, for putting the commuter/regional trains and stations back, starting with the completion of the 120 Kms Black Country Railway - extremely urgently and before the Camp Hill line; and, introducing a sea change in our commuting habits.  That is, twelve month, A456 Hagley Road experiment of:

• never taking the car into Brum city centre unless it is essential for your major business livelihood or, there are at least two adult passengers in the car.  Strict enforcement by random roadside checks when traffic is stationary; and CCTV.  Hefty financial penalties for transgressing.  Once you are down to one passenger or solo, you must go into the slower, outside lane immediately.
• This is done by 100% bus lanes on every nearside lane of the no 9 bus route and traffic light priority for buses and other vehicles permitted in the bus lane.
• Cancellation of elite, very expensive Sprint to allow for every bus to be similarly favoured.  The roll out of Platinum buses makes Sprint unnecessary at this time.
• Electric buses, asap, must be the mass transit for commuters and not anymore tram extensions.

MASS TRANSIT FOR ALL AND NOT THE LUCKY FEW on a tram line.

Donald Tusk on his special place

There is a special place in heaven for all those who repent.  Especially, those bright sparks at transport HQ + every cllr, MP, MEP and one Metro Mayor who all think that Metro trams are the silver bullet to solve our road and railway congestion problems in Brum and in Dudley (rundown) town centre. Their sketch of a plan features the second most expensive transport mode after HS2. Tram extensions are up to 3 times more expensive, per Km than building a 6 lane motorway. All this to supplant existing buses and trains. Brexit just can't compete with this idiocy!

Brexit is costing us billions and ratcheting up fossil fuel use at the very time when we should be reversing this ecocidal behaviour.  Even more is being spent on vanity, prestigious projects like HS2 (£55.7 billion) and £1.41 billion, for installation alone, on replacing only a few buses and trains with trams at £3 m each.  This is ecocidal idiocy.  Retrenchment is urgent out of self interest, alone.  That means trains and stations, urgently, on the 106 Kms of surviving train lines.  Fareless, electric buses on 100% dedicated bus lanes with traffic light priority for them, not commuter cars.  SCRAP £112 m ​spending on ​SPRINT buses​ for the few​, too.  Put the money into existing buses​ for all​.​  BUS FIRST, NOT CARS or, trams for the lucky few.​

A sea change in social attitudes is urgent to free up road space for essential users, by commuters using fareless buses, trains on train lines, biking and walking.  Give businesses less congested roads to cut their fossil fuel use.

Moral choices are vital; not vanity choices - HS2, Metro and Sprint - that entrench us in enhancing the natural, protective greenhouse layer.

READ today's IPPR report on reducing our over consumption, over-fishing, decarbonising our economy, carbon neutral homes, carbon sequestration, the impact of human climate change and the loss of life giving habitats on the planet.  Halve our emissions by 2030.  "We have to do multiple things simultaneously in an integrated way ... working together."  ('Today' on Radio 4, 12 Feb 2019)

Why it must always be trams and never trains

Why Centro has always wanted a network of tram lines rather than the more obvious, simpler, cheaper, easier to achieve Beeching reversals!

1. Originally, only a network of tram lines throughout the W Midlands was thought to be able to reduce road congestion in Birmingham.
2. Now SPRINT buses - the tram that thinks its a bus - is thought to entice car commuters out of their cars.
3. Hence, we are still going to get Metro trams along Broad Street and part of Hagley Road, along with limited stop, super-smart SPRINT buses also to run the full length of Hagley Road as far as Quinton, only.  These two along with the usual buses and vehicles of all kinds.  Yet more congestion!
4. The ITA/Centro have always considered the 200 Km of 15 Metro lines by 2000 was always their pet project from 1981.  For 34 years our local councillors have been trying to empire build with trams but are now in their fourth decade of failure.
5. First Railtrack, then its predecessor Network Fail (whoops, I mean Negligent Rail), have been uninterested in making more work for themselves by reversing the Beeching urban closures (only rural Beeching closures, as in southern Scotland this year).  They can't even do electrification without having to be stopped (suspended) by the Sec of State, from June to September, as happened this year.
6. Once you get the Establishment moving in the tram rut of road and rail running trams as the answer for congestion, instead of trains being returned, it is quite impossible to get them out of that rut.  It needs a strong minded, free thinking political Master in power, as we have and have had in London.
7. The people have not been sufficiently interested to question this conventional transport wisdom.  Everyone expects the transport planners and councillors to get on with it - but, they don't get on with it.  Hence, wrong decisions are made and never reversed or even achieved - apart from Metro One, only and, on a rail line too!