Suggestions for buses to be used in place of a mass transit network for West Yorkshire shows how devolution has not gone far enough
The Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin is understandably calling for greater devolution. Despite steps in the right direction, when Whitehall continues to wield power over major infrastructure projects that people on the ground clearly want and need but civil servants fail to deliver, there is clearly a long way to go.
The absurdity of Leeds being the biggest city in Europe without a mass transit network is compounded by the litany of false starts and broken promises.
The fact that a secret Whitehall review into West Yorkshire’s latest proposed mass transit system urged the Mayor to consider using buses over trams due to a “significantly less” cost is a damning indictment of how out-of-touch Whitehall is with the needs of the region.
Mandarins who have access to their own mass transit system down in the capital but deprive one of the great economic engines of the North its own. Everyone knows that they would never have qualms of greenlighting much needed infrastructure projects if it directly impacted them.
It’s frankly insulting to ask people in Leeds to make do with buses. A tram network should be a priority for any government serious about growth.
The Whitehall review said it would be a “political embarrassment" if there was a perceived disconnect between a start date for a West Yorkshire mass transit project and the work actually beginning.
What is embarrassing is that Whitehall mandarins think putting more buses on instead is the equivalent of a tram network.
Equally embarrassing is the fact that the report has been shrouded in secrecy. All it has done is further damaged public confidence. The people of Leeds were already sceptical that the vision for the West Yorkshire mass transit network would ever be realised.