YP Letters: Lessons from past on how to run a tramway

From: Bruce Anderton, Church Green, Bridlington.
What now for Leeds after the trolleybus scheme was rejected?What now for Leeds after the trolleybus scheme was rejected?
What now for Leeds after the trolleybus scheme was rejected?

NOW that the Leeds trolleybus scheme has suffered its not unexpected death, we are left with the prospect of Leeds once again regaining its unwanted mantle of being the largest English provincial centre without adequate public transport for a city of its size. This is hardly an encouraging advertisement for attracting more businesses to its heart and its suburbs.

Regarding previous proclamations by Firstbus that it would provide an adequate service without the need for trolleybuses, one now awaits their “solution” to Leeds’s chronic commuter problems – and let’s hope their suggestions offer something more imaginative than merely putting more buses on the already saturated roads.

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The ultimate insult, of course, is the fact that in 1944, a scheme was proposed for building a system of tram subways under the city centre, connecting with segregated surface lines out to the suburbs.

Had this scheme been undertaken, it would have given Leeds a first-rate means of transporting the masses with ultimate efficiency.

Sadly, political interference and economic circumstances ensured that this forward-looking approach was not adopted, leading to the sorry situation which now applies.

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