How Burnham could build new tram routes in a city near you
Andy Burnham must cut regulations and allow city regions to build more trams if he is to boost growth and jobs outside of the capital, his ally and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street has said.
The prospective prime minister has pledged to devolve more power over decision-making to local mayors when, as is expected, he takes over from Sir Keir Starmer later this month.
Street, who is widely tipped to run Great British Railways, the new body overseeing the country’s trains, has urged him to cut regulations and allow cities to build hundreds of miles of new tramlines to boost regional productivity.
Burnham has repeatedly trumpeted his track record on transport, creating the Bee Network during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, of which the city’s successful Metrolink tram system is part.
Street, who worked hand in hand with Burnham to try to build a new rail line between Birmingham and Manchester after HS2 North was scrapped, warned the UK was lagging behind Europe when it came to building new trams, which he said were greener and more efficient than cars and buses.
Since 2001, 21 French cities had built tram networks, while the UK had managed to deliver just three, he added – with Leeds left as the biggest city in western Europe without a tram or metro system.
A “cumbersome” planning process and onerous regulations had made building infrastructure too expensive in the UK, Street warned, with the average cost of laying tram lines in Britain about double that of the European average.
“This has left many cities and towns disconnected and lacking basic transport links, creating a reliance on more polluting modes of transport,” he wrote in an essay for the Conservative Environment Network.
“For instance, 80 per cent of Britons living in urban areas do not have access to a metro or tram, a stark contrast to just 10 per cent in Germany. This limits access to employment, leisure, and education opportunities, thereby reducing productivity and choking economic growth.”
Leeds has long been earmarked for a new tram network, after seeing its former one close permanently in the 1950s. Proposals for a “supertram” were first mooted in the early 1990s.
The city is due to reinstate its tram system, but a funding announcement by the Government meant the delivery date has been delayed again until the early 2030s, although it is hoped construction will begin by 2028.
Last week, Angela Rayner, another Burnham ally called for Whitehall to stop overruling West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin over plans for a regional tram network.
Research has shown trams to be a highly beneficial mode of transport for urban areas as they take up only a single lane of a street, can run as regularly as buses, and carry up to 22,000 commuters every hour.
According to Street, regulations developed in the UK 30 years ago have meant that any new tram system must first move all utilities, such as pipes and cabling, before a track can be laid – which can amount to around a third of construction costs. No such regulations exist elsewhere in Europe or in the US.
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