Merseytram debacle continues - four month deadline and little prospect of success
If transport authority Merseytravel has been unable to get funding for Merseytram in the past few years, it would seem unlikely that it could do it in four months.
But that is the task that it has been set by the region's council leaders.
The make or break demand, revealed today, seems to be saying we are happy to support Line 1 from Liverpool to Kirkby, but...
- We don't want to pay for it, so get the Government or the private sector to stump up ã450m
- We don't want to sacrifice other schemes to raise the money
- We don't want the on, off, on again, off again, debate to rage forever, so if no money can be found by March then we want to move on
The likelihood of Merseytravel being able to sort out a financing package in four months is virtually zero.
I can't believe that in passing this resolution the six leaders of the Liverpool city region did not know that this was effectively the kiss of death for the scheme.
But what it did allow them to do was show "support" for the scheme, a vital test that the Government set down if it were to finance the project.
Readers will remember that transport minister Sadiq Khan virtually killed off Merseytram last month in a letter to the region's leaders.
He claims his letter was misinterpreted and we await a "clarification" letter.
Merseytram has become a debacle once more. My suspicion has been that Mr Khan's original letter was intended to kill off Merseytram but then inconveniently for the Government it was leaked.
Keen not to appear to be the bad guy, the Government then tried to shift the blame to council leaders in Merseyside.
Now the ball is back in the Government's court, but there is little prospect of Mr Khan being able to find ã450m.
We await the "clarification" letter with interest.
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David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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I can't see the trams being given the go-ahead, sadly.
That's not to say that I agree with the proposed tram system in principle, or even that paticular form of transpotrt itself. We don't need another link to Kirkby (bus/train links already in existance)and trams themselves seem to be too low a capacity form of transport for a connection between two towns.
I do however think that if money is available which will simply be allocated elswhere in the region if not used for Merseytram then build it. It creates jobs in the short/long term and additional infrastructure is NEVER a bad thing, no matter how inadequate.
What really annoys me is 'enthusiasts' who call for a radiacal expansion of Merseyrail. Liverpool does not need a rapid transit system. Nor does it have the basis of one now.
Merseyrail as it is is just a run of the mill commuter rail stystem, NOT a Metro. Granted it is quirky and unique in that it has a small underground portion but that is all.
Glasgow has a similar suburban rail system with underground stations in the city centre and no-one calls it a Metro (by the way this is not the Subway, which is a rapid transit system).
The existing disused city centre tunnels are awkwardly placed with regards to incorporating them into a segregated system like Merseyral as they emerge at terminuses (the waterfront) and main lines (at Edge Hill).
The Dingle tunnel is an isolated terminus with a wall at one end and thin air at the other. Again, quirky but entirely usesless.
One thing I do agree with the enthusiasts on is the need for some sort of low capacity system to serve the city centre and it's immediate neighbourhoods. Perhaps a tram or some sort of people mover - not a monorail. The city centre is not a zoo.
Lets a have a realistic debate about viable transport solutions. Liverpool is a small city with a declining population - it does not need a Metro.
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