"Stephen Richards" wrote in message
...
Have just been reading through the West London tram proposal. While I
am all for upgrading our transport system, I can't help wondering
whether building tram systems is the best value for money. This will
cost £648 million - £49 million per mile. I wonder how that compares
with building the channel tunnel rail link (the part that is already
open - not the tunnel under East London) - does anyone know?

My point is that the biggest advantage to be had from trams is that they
will run on separated track from the rest of the traffic, and so not
be held up by other traffic and hence more reliable.

Couldn't that be done by making a completely separate bus lane,
separated from other traffic by kerbs? This would deliver the
reliability and speed benefits at a fraction of the cost, and allow
similar schemes to be rolled out to other parts of London as well.

A bus lane occupies more road space and carries fewer passengers per driver.
There was previously a tram from Shepherds Bush to Uxbridge which was
withdrawn in 1951.

For a current thread on the subject see "Why Trams?" in uk.transport.