Dave Arquati wrote:

Paul Corfield wrote:
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.

I have to ponder what on earth is going on in the hallowed corridors of
the DfT these days!

I think it's a matter of delivery. Nottingham have managed to deliver a
successful tram system without constantly asking for more money, and
have managed to integrate it into the bus network. Other cities fail to
manage their projects properly and their figures seem to inflate every
quarter, damaging their business case. Either that, or the local
authorities can't agree properly on what they want (Bristol, Liverpool).
Some cities also seem quite unwilling to take on risk when it is plainly
obvious quite how much risk there is given the regular budget rewrites.

Saying that, the DfT end is probably equally crazy.



Relating this to conversations in another thread about TfL's ability to
deliver with particular regard to the NLL / London Overground, perhaps
one can come up with the rather obvious point that the wary (and weary)
DfT really rates those projects where local delivery is strong, and
thus has confidence in backing them.

I've said before I think it's a great shame that the no vote in the
North-East put a stop to a possible future of strong regional
government with a firm grasp on transport. Nonetheless where there's a
will there's a way, it's just that the basics needs to be in place on a
local level - a strong alliance of local authoroties with a firm sense
of purpose and the right structures to campaign for and manage such
projects.

That said, I don't work for WYPTE so I'm not banging my head against a
brick wall everyday.