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24 September 2014

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Supertram: A lost cause?

The lack of a firm decision on Leeds' Supertram project from the government could spell the end of the dream, as time runs out for land purchase to enable the project to go ahead. Here we present a timeline in the history of the Leeds Supertram:

November 1959 - Trams stop operating in Leeds

1977 - "WYTCONSULT" suggested after a transportation study, that various corridors in Leeds would be suitable for light rail operation.

1989 - West Yorkshire PTE (METRO) announced its METROLINE LRT scheme which basically was along York Road to various destinations on the east side of the city. This scheme did not have support from the Leeds City Council and was eventually abandoned.

July 1993 - Parliamentary Powers to permit a Supertram project to proceed in Leeds were granted to METRO in conjunction with Leeds City Council. The proposed route is to Tingley from Cookridge Street in Leeds City centre and included a branch from Hunslet to Stourton. This totalled 12km at an estimated cost at that time of £95m.

1995 - Leeds West MP, John Battle, raises the question of the proposed scheme in the House oF Commons.

December 2000 - It was announced that the legal powers to enable the scheme to go ahead had been renewed and the orders for the extensions had been approved subject to certain conditions.

March 2001 - It's announced that 75 per cent of the cash would come from central Government and 25 per cent would be raised locally. This funding go-ahead has been given assuming that the legal procedures on planning and compulsory purchase of land are completed satisfactorily. Parliamentary approval is required where there is purchase of open space without alternative replacement land being offered.

June 2001 - WYPTE hosted an Open Day at the Leeds Marriott Hotel for companies which had expressed interest in taking part in the tendering process for the Supertram scheme. Almost 100 companies attended the meeting.

August 2001 - Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive appoints Mick Martin as Leeds Supertram Project Director and announces that all the advisory teams who will oversee the detailed planning and construction phase of the scheme, were in place.

July 2004 - Government rejects proposals as being too expensive.

November 2004 - The Leeds Supertram project was officially relaunched with the slogan “Supertram, It Adds up for Leeds”. It was revealed that the project's managers had been able to cut almost £1/4 billion from the costs of the scheme (now shrunk by 7km).

February 2005 - Kieran Preston, director-general of Metro, issues a warning in a leaked letter to Leeds City Council, that the Supertram project is seriously in danger of collapse. Mr Preston says that without approval "in the next few weeks" the city council will lose its powers to compulsorily buy land for the project.

March 2005 - The Leeds Supertram team meet transport minister Tony McNulty to press their case, in the light of the pressing need for a decision before compulsory purchase powers for land needed for the project lapse.

April 2005 - Two new House of Commons Transport Select Committee reports on Light Rail Transport provision are published:

* The first report 'Integrated Transport: the Future of Light Rail and Modern Trams in the United Kingdom' (published 4 April 2005) confirms that new tram schemes have a part to play in the future of UK transport and that they can offer clean, high quality accessible transport.

* The second report 'Improving public transport in England through light rail' (published 5 April 2005) recognises the benefits of light rail but says the process of planning and approving schemes such as Leeds Supertram is "too lengthy and time consuming".

July 2005 - Following a meeting between Leeds Council leader, Councillor Mark Harris; Metro Chairman Councillor Karam Hussain and Transport Minister Derek Twigg to discuss the scheme’s future, the Minister has asked the Supertram team to complete further work in connection with local funding.

last updated: 27/07/05

Have Your Say

Will the Supertram ever materialise? Is it essential in order to solve Leeds' traffic problems?

Keith Baynton
Politicians and public transport don't mix and never have. How much has this non-project cost 'us' so far? However there is a far cheaper way to electrify (in all respects) public transport in our cities, no need for costly railways, just wires suspended above existing roads - we called them trolleybuses, until the politicians did away with them.

Dave Llewellyn
Witness my shock as the Supertram plans goes belly-up. Although why am I surprised? I mean - why would the government choose to fund a public transport system outside of the M25?

R LAU
Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield have trams and had developed them with speed and efficiency. Leeds...come on chop chop

Jeff Utley
Too expensive for the small areas served. Would a trolleybus scheme be cheaper & quicker to install due to not needing to fit rails. Can also be extended quickly.

Rich
dont want it and don't need it!!!

roland pascoe
I have lived and worked in leeds for the past 25 years.Over that time the traffic has gotworse, public transport has got worse.For a city of this size and stature not to have a quick efficent way of getting around it is a disgrace.Leeds you should be ashamed!!!

NEIL TILLOTSON
The Supertram project is a waste of money that could be better spent on improving bus services all over Leeds and the surrounding area.

carl j searby
Have Leeds City Council not considered raising the extra cash required through the issue of bonds. given todays interest rates it may be a favourable way to raise the extra cash.

Steve Tudge
Once again the government has proved to be totally unreliable in the it's supposed quest for a cleaner environment and efficient public transport systems. The Leeds Supertram is now doomed to failure and has gone the same way as proposed plans to alleviate intolerable congestion in the aire valley corridor. The Labour government has,and never has had, any intention of alleviating traffic congestion,preferring instead to offer no alternatives,and then punish the public in the form of congestion charges. The government now prefers to divert resources to traditional pseudo socialist monoliths, the latest being the London Olympics.

Martin Elsworth
I don't think the Supertram is the be all and end all of transport Leeds, but it is fundamental as a catalyst to the future prosperity of the city with inward investment. Stop playing politics with this overdue scheme.

Paul, Leeds
Leeds is congested, dirty and polluted - it needs a modern transport system. We are at least 20 years behind countries like Germany, where every major city has an underground system, tram or monorail. I will be leaving Leeds, probably with many others, if the city is snubbed funding for any form of modern transport.

James Hoggard - Managing director of Comet
How about a monorail?

Graham
Once again we have the North-South divide. I read with disgust the amount the government is pouring into the transport network in London. More and more money is thrown at London. They already have an excellent transport network. Where we in the north have to "Think again" about our network. Central government should think again. We desperately need to upgrade our public transport for this vastly expanding and booming city of Leeds.

Fr James Callaghan OSB
The Supertram project must be carried out. As a Leeds man myself, now resident outside the city, I look forward very much to being able to leave my car at the Park and Ride and take the tram into town. I am sure a lot of people would do the same - the benefits to the traffic situation in Leeds are obvious! Furthermore, I fail to understand why so many European cities can build tramways and even undergrounds, while a large city such as Leeds has to rely on buses. Our economy is supposed to be booming in this country! With many thank, Fr James.

Steve
What is especially frustrating is the method the council is forced to go down for funding it. The phased tendering seems to ensure that the true cost of any scheme remains hidden until the project is well under way. We don't want a Scottish Parliament situation developing but there seems no easy alternative to the tram for solving our transport problems.

Peter Towler
Why waste money on the Supertram? The land that's intended to be used for the Supertram could be made into bus lanes. If these bus lanes were used ONLY by buses this would ensure that they arrived at their destination on time. Create park and ride sites and stop all cars entering the city centre. This might encourage more people to shop in the city.

leeds loiner
simple-it ain't ever going to happen !Nobody in Whitehall has shown the slightest interest in the project,throwing hurdle after hurdle in the path of any progress.

Tony Barraclough
To this government, nothing exists beyond London. Ask for billions for transport systems in the Capital and as if by magic there is no shortage of money, but if the north requires anything approaching a large amount the answer is always no. Leeds needs this tram network. If not, in years to come the city will come to a juddering halt. This government must learn to invest in the future and the future will repay many times over.

Ken Pearce
Leeds is the financial services centre of the North and deserves the infrastructure to help it grow further, but with London getting the Olympics what chance now? Have a look at the Thessalonika story once Athens got the Olympics. Shame on you Leeds where is your civic pride?

Brian Cromack
Whilst I agree with the idea of the Supertram, I am amazed that there are no plans for West Leeds to be connected! West Leeds has appalling congestion (Kirkstall Road, Tong Road, Stanningly Road) during rush hours, which is simply getting worse and worse. I would be unhappy to accept the inevitable increase in Council Tax for a service which does not benefit the WHOLE of Leeds

Gary Stevenson
A state-of-the-art Electric Trolleybus system would be just as efficient and futuristic as a tram but much cheaper. They have them in some of the most modern cities in the world (Seattle, Vancouver) and people love them. No rails, no getting stuck behind parked vehicles, very flexible and scalable. I don't think that the authorities have ever even considered this properly - why not? It would certainly make Leeds different from any other big city in the country.

Mark Leavesley
I agree with the first line from James comments. I am from Liverpool who have a similar problematic tram scheme, going no-where. The reason why the government is holding back on trams, is because trams have severe limitations with regard to reducing congestion, as they require large strips of land and have to negotiate road junctions and are an overwhelming health and safety risk. What both these cities however,do need, is a twentyfirst century 'suspended MONORAIL system, like that which Hull are considering.Leeds and Liverpool deserve something more futuristic than a tram. We share a canal, why not a monorail?

Matt, LDS
We need this supertram asap. It is vital to provide a reliable, quick transport network in the UK's fastest growing city. It would not be stuck in traffic as 75% of the network will be on seperated tramway. We need this, and its appaling how money is put into London and the SE and the government are biased to them yet forgetting about Leeds. Maybe its time to start voting for the green party.

James Pearson
Why not invest the money into our bus system? some of the proposed routes for supertram are very well covered by the bus system in place.

Roland
Leeds needs a transport solution soon if it is to sustain its image of a centre of economic growth and excellence. At the moment the busses stop running out of town far too early - seven o'clock in some cases which is no good for those who work during the evenings. 24 hour city - hardly!!

Ryan
I think its a disgrace that the goverment has showed a lack of interest in this project! If it was how ever in the South East this eould not be the decision! Its about time the North Of England started getting treated like the south.

James
The supertram in Leeds is a waste of money - the trams will largely sit in the same City centre gridlock as the rest of the cars and buses. Improve the bus network: increase frequency, reduce the price, introduce more guided bus lanes, give priority to buses - including reducing the number of red lights on Vicar Lane that result in buses taking forever to cross the City centre.

Graham Kemp
I live in Leeds, proud to come form this region; however the planners, politicians and vested intersted groups will continue to hold this city back. If we are to become a true European city of this century, lets get a visionary Lord Mayor in place who can knock some heads together and has the bottle to put a comprehensive transport plan together and go to governmemnt and start making some demands. Whilst we leave the development of this potentially great city in the hands of timorous leaders we will continually play second fiddle!

Francis Edwards
Can we not use buses in the space already obtained for Supertram? It seems the project links nothing but space hoping that other schemes will take off after the investment. Why does a park and ride not open at the Stouton Gyratory by the M621?

Michael Taylor
Hamberg is a similar size to Leeds and has a much longer tram system then the proposed Leeds one and a large Underground. What has Leeds got guided bus lanes. Realistically in the next 20 years £billions needs to be spent on public transport in Leeds to stop gridlocking, to improve the air quality, to allow people to get around and to enhance toursim and the local economy. Sheffield and Nottingham (two smaller cities) have a tram system, so should Leeds, it's time to stop giving in to NIMBY's and monetarism!

Ian Hubbert
All the extra money being spent on transport in London. All other big cities have got a electrical transport system. Why not allow one for . It is typical of the goverment to try and do something on the cheap by suggesting more guided buses. what a dissaster that is. One thing with this goverment is that you can rely on, is not getting any support. When they want to try any more of there bright ideas of having heavy toll charges to go into Leeds. Tell them to get lost.

Chas
Years of talking and action. Waste of money etc Lets just put it to bed for good, as it was never going to get off the ground. With modern technology you have to ask why millions of people HAVE to travel to work in cities, I mean we don't actually produce anything anymore.

Richard J Wilson
The constant delays by this government despite it's own Commons reports approval of this kind of scheme is a disgrace. Leeds is in desparate need of improved transport links but is obviously not a govn priority unlike say East London? It is certainly NOT a waste of money.

richard priestley
I live in Beeston and find the bus service pretty reliable except that they are dirty and old buses that are on my route. it seems to me that supertram was a dud from the start wasting millions of tax payers money on a scheme that now looks doomed. Why couldn't the money offered by the private sector and money used from the government be used to provide a trolley bus system in leeds? if you look to europe where counties have kept and updated their trollybus services their ridership has increased year on year keeping car mileage down. be abolising trolleybuses in leeds it Just goes to prove the old saying "if it aint broke don't try to fix it"

Rod Brooks
I am pleased that this waste of money project appears to be going down the pan. When I lived in Easterly Road, we petitioned against the tram collecting thousands of signatures. The council wouldn't grant us a meeting and actually told us that it was "all systems go!" Our research branded this tram a waste of time and it was certainly not wanted by the community. It looks as if it's a red herring for Leeds council.

Karen
The Government's attitude is incredible on this issue. Give Leeds a clear answer NOW! If not Supertram, let's have six or more old and new railway stations opened or re-opened on the existing routes.

Bob Peters
I live in Kirkstall and work in Stourton. I'd prefer to leave my gas-guzzler at home and catch the tram to work. One thing's preventing me doing this ...

John Wilson
Supertram isn't the 'purple pill' to cure Leeds' transport problems. It's down to the planners and the politicians pulling their strings to stop giving in to developer's demands for car parking. Sustainable development is more than glossy strategy documents.