Merseytram - the case against
Never let it be said that Dale Street Blues does not tolerate a difference of opinions.
Today my colleague Tony McDonough has attacked plans to get Merseytram up and running.
I've decided to reproduce it in its entirety.
There's a particularly stinging attack on Merseytravel's chief executive Neil Scales.
It's worth saying that I don't agree with the premise of Tony's column. He argues his point well, but ultimately I think he is wrong.
Anyway here it is:
LIKE Lazarus, the grandiose Merseytram scheme rises from the grave - or almost.
Merseytravel has been trying to get a tram network built in the city for more than a decade.
In 2005, transport secretary Alistair Darling refused to release ã170m earmarked for the Line 1 route from the city centre to Kirkby after concerns about cost over-runs.
To date, Merseytravel has squandered ã70m on Merseytram, including ã50m of borrowed cash, without a single track being laid.
The transport authority now has to stump up ã4.8m every year to repay it.
Last year, an Audit Commission report was highly critical of Merseytravel's handling of the project, saying it had failed to properly manage the risks involved, had initially committed too much resource and had failed to properly engage with local authorities across Merseyside.
However, despite this scandalous waste of taxpayers' cash Merseytravel, led by chief executive Neil Scales, wants to spend some more of your money and have another shot at the title.
It faces a race against time to get a business plan submitted to the Department of Transport before the next General Election as the Tories have said they will not fund Merseytram in its present form.
This time around, the Government is being asked for an eye- watering ã270m towards a scheme that has now ballooned in cost to more than ã400m
This isn't money from the fairies - this is your hard-earned tax dollar. And don't public bodies like Merseytravel love to spend it.
Merseytram Line 1 was a bad idea in 2005 and remains a bad idea now.
It would run from the city centre through Tuebrook, West Derby, Norris Green, Croxteth and on to Kirkby.
Buses running to and from the city centre along this route include the 14, 14a, 18a, 12, 13, and 15.
Some of the 14s run all the way to Kirkby. The town is also linked with the city centre via the 17, 19, 20 and 21 bus routes.
All of the bus services, run by both Stagecoach and Arriva, mentioned above are frequent and reliable - even during the evening and at weekends. I can vouch for this personally, having used the 14 route into town almost all my life.
Merseyrail also runs an excellent rail service which takes less than 20 minutes to get from Kirkby to the city centre.
The tram isn't needed - it's a waste of money.
Neil Scales should be begging the forgiveness of the people of Merseyside for blowing ã70m on this vanity project.
He claims Merseytram would bring regeneration benefits along the route, although these aren't clear, and says it will create jobs.
I'm sorry, but since when were regeneration and job creation part of Merseytravel's remit? Perhaps Mr Scales sees himself as a latter-day Franklin D Roosevelt, the US President who spent billions of dollars of taxpayers' cash on employment schemes following the Great Depression.
Keolis, the French firm chosen to operate Merseytram, says the project will be "one of the most commercially robust and successful systems in Europe".
If they believe that, then why don't they fund it themselves in that way that the ã1bn Liverpool One retail project was entirely privately-funded.
If Merseytram was commercially viable, it wouldn't need a penny of public money.
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David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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I agree with Tony McD. However it did go ahead I would prefer to Line 3 go ahead first.
Why do you not agree with him ?
(I initially posted 'spot on Tony' but it wouldn't let me, it said 'text entered was wrong' - wouldn't be because I disagree with your opinion would it? ;))
Neil Scales needs Meadowhall tattooed across his forehead to remind him of a white elephant every time he looks in the mirror. Meadowhall is the Kirkby-style tramline built in Sheffield at enormous public cost a decade or more ago. It never broke even last century; it'll never break even this century; and if we come back in 500 years time, we'll still be waiting for any return on the investment. Oh, by the way, Meadowhall and districts along the route were poor in 1990, and they're still poor today. And the trams run empty.
Just because the measures haven't succeeded doesn't mean the intent wasn't there.
I've not heard a single argument which has persuaded me that the tram project is a good one.
As Tony Mc has already pointed out, there is a perfectly good (most of the time) train system from Kirkby to Liverpool, not to mention the bus service.
If Neil Scales wanted a green Kirkby-Liverpool link, then he should have looked at an electric bus system which would have been more efficient and would not have required such a massive and expensive engineering feat.
But I'm here to be persuaded. Anything which will create jobs and effectively improve the life of Merseysiders is good by me.
I'm just not sure the tram is the right vehicle to deliver.
"Ronnie" needs to check his facts. Meadowhall is the very very profitable shopping centre on the outskirts of Sheffield, well served by trams and buses and sitting next to the M1. The trams do not run empty. Whilst patronage figures are not what was predicted, it exceeded the expected shift from cars to tram, and few people previously travelling on buses shifted to tram. It therefore was successful in reducing car use and was not detrimental to the bus service. And places along the tram route have seen a rveersal of fortunes. Not nirvana, but better than before.
All of this is publically available info so Ronnie is simply being the usual online bigmouth who says something that sounds plausible but is actually just complete rot.
As for the Kirkby tram project - it is a good idea. Merseyside is about more than just Liverpool. In any case, most people who drive simply do not switch to buses in the numbers we need to reduce congestion and improve our streets. Kirkby train station is also too far away from the town centre, making it an impracticle alternative for many.
Changing the tram to serve the airport is to serve what will be a proper white elephant in years to come as air travel becomes more and more expensive. However, lines to south Liverpool are a good idea (for the same reasons of potential mode shift highlighted above)
Lastly, Tony McDonough is not a regeneration expert, a transport expert or even an expert on urban life. He is a columnist chosen because he can put his views together in an acceptable, readable way. He is, however, plainly deluded. When he says "since when were regeneration and job creation part of Merseytravel's remit?" he reveals his ignorance. Read any transport policy - hell read the Government's own! - and he will see just how important transport is to regeneration and how any transport body has to have regeneration as part of its remit.