Plans for a mass transit network across West Yorkshire will be shrouded in cynicism until the first trams roll through Leeds and Bradford
As the consultation on the first phase of the West Yorkshire Mass Transit network comes to a close, there is still a lingering, and perfectly understandable, fear that it will never really materialise.
If plans are realised, then it would herald the return of trams to this part of the region, which shows the dereliction of the transport network over the years. In fact, the Leeds Corporation Tramways once covered a far greater area than the latest proposals until 1959.
Boris Johnson was right to say that it was a scandal that Leeds is the largest city in Western Europe not to have a mass transit system back in 2019. It’s a shame that the former Prime Minister did little to fix this.
The West Yorkshire Mass Transit scheme is a litmus test not only for the region’s leaders but also for the Government.
People across Yorkshire will be keeping a watchful eye on whether a meaningful network materialises.
The previous Labour government betrayed Leeds when it came to plans to establish a tram network in the early 2000s.
And just this week it was mooted that upgrades of the Manchester-Leeds rail line could be looked at for potential cost savings by the new Government at Rachel Reeves’ first Budget.
It seems that transport improvements in Yorkshire are the first victims of Westminster cost saving exercises.
However, the benefits of a tram network across West Yorkshire are evident. Leeds has had the ‘motorway city’ moniker attached to it for decades but parts of the city have become choked by congestion. And it is local people that suffer, whether that is having to sit in traffic or having to live with air pollution. With a population that is growing fast, a tram network is much needed.