Ian Jelf wrote:
In message , Paul Corfield
writes
Not London so apologies for Off Topic but uk.transport seems to be full
of moaning motorists!

To my great shock and surprise it seems that Nottingham has been given
£400+m to go and build two new lines as part of the NET system.

I imagine people in Manchester, South Hampshire and Leeds are a tad
****ed off. I'm pleased for Nottingham that they've got through the
funding and approval maze with relative ease and speed but it really
sends out some very odd messages as to what on earth the national policy
is on Light Rail.
As said by Dave it's a matter of delivery.

I also think it's important that - to make any real difference - tram
systems need to be a network rather than just a single route. The
Nottingham and West Midlands systems, although successful as far as they
go, can't make much improvement to local transport in the way that
Sheffield or Manchester can, even though the former are well integrated
to other local transport and the latter by and large aren't.

NET is one of the best of the modern UK (and dare I say it European)
tramway systems. Seeing it expanded can only a be a Good Thing.

I would like to see some extensions and improvements to Midland Metro,
though. New (decent) trams and the Birmingham City Centre extension
would be a good starting point.

To return to a London topic, Croydon and the DLR also show the greater
usefulness of "networks".

Indeed, Croydon's public switching from a partly anti-tram feeling to a
very supportive feeling now, and with extensive lobbying by other south
London boroughs for extensions into their territory - on-street, no
less. Unfortunately, of the four proposed extensions, only one can be
taken forward at the current time, and there's a reasonable certainty
that it'll be Crystal Palace - of the four, probably the cheapest,
easiest and least disruptive of them all (almost a "quick win").

Trams are certainly alive elsewhere in London too with a high
probability of delivery. I think that Cross River Tram has a better
chance of delivery than West London - the former has very strong levels
of support from the public and other organisations alike, takes
advantage of roadspace released by congestion charging, would be
extremely well-used and would make getting jobs in central London much
easier for some deprived bits of inner south London.

Saying that, I was shown a diagram a few weeks ago which compared the
annual patronage of each of London's busiest bus routes with that of
light rail systems around the country. The 207/607 - with 23m passengers
per year - beat all but two light rail systems (DLR with 50m and Tyne &
Wear Metro with 37m).

--
Dave Arquati
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London