Modern trams could become a more familiar sight on city streets if Government listens to an influential group of MPs.

That’s the view of West Midlands transport bosses planning a major expansion of the Midland Metro system.  Work is already underway on a new line from Wednesbury to Dudley and Brierley Hill and other routes are being mapped out for Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the Black Country.

Councillors have backed a report from the powerful House of Commons Transport Committee which calls on Whitehall to improve the planning and approval process for light rail schemes.  The MPs inquiry found that tram schemes in the UK can take up to 15 years to deliver compared to four or five years elsewhere in Europe.

The report published today (Sunday 3 April) calls on the Department for Transport to give a strategic lead and includes several recommendations to make tram systems a more viable option for urban areas in the UK.

“There is a good deal of common sense in today’s Select Committee report.  If the Government takes these findings on board we can clear up some of the uncertainty hanging over light rail development,” says Cllr Gary Clarke, chairman of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority.  “It could even lead to Britain adopting some of the cheaper and faster construction methods used on mainland Europe.  That would certainly be good news for passengers.”

Midland Metro line one, which runs from Wolverhampton to Birmingham via West Bromwich, took around 13 years to develop from the planning stage to the first trams running in May 1998.  It is now the most reliable form of public transport in the region and extremely popular with regular users.  More rush hour trams have recently been added to cope with growing demand.

Looking at similar schemes around the country, the Commons Transport Committee praised them for offering clean, high-quality, accessible urban transport on busy routes.  Despite their high initial capital cost, trams could even be cheaper than buses, it said.

“Tram schemes cannot simply be written off as too expensive,” says Committee chairman  Gwyneth Dunwoody MP.  “It is more complex than that: the problems come because the Government takes a long time to make decisions, the private sector is supposed to bear the risks, and then everyone seems surprised that those risks now have a price attached.  To cap it all, the deregulated bus system outside London prevents local authorities from ensuring trams lie at the heart of an integrated transport system.”

“Trams aren’t a magic answer to every transport problem.  But they certainly aren’t anywhere near as crackpot as some people would have us believe,” she says.

In the West Midlands, public transport promoter Centro is planning five new tram lines that would put more than half a million people within walking distance of a new Midland Metro stop.

“To achieve this we need a DfT framework that considers the options, gives value for money and leads to a good deal for passengers – but then at the end of the day allows us to build tram lines cheaper and quicker,” commented Centro director general Rob Donald.

“This inquiry, like the National Audit Office report last year, has highlighted some very important truths that need to be aired if we are to get on and deliver an integrated transport system with the same speed and efficiency of other European countries.”

His comments have been echoed by Kieran Preston, chair of the Passenger Transport Executives Group representing public transport bodies like Centro in the UK's major conurbations. 

"As the report shows Britain's new generation of tram and light rail schemes have proved to be a hit with the travelling public, crucially that includes motorists who are switching to light rail in massive numbers," he said.

"What sometimes hasn't worked out so well is the way Whitehall has overseen the planning and procurement of new schemes - resulting in too many delays and too many cost hikes.  The report shows we need to learn from other countries and get back to basics on light rail - with much more straightforward ways of financing schemes, full integration between bus and tram networks, and a streamlined process for approving new schemes."