Air pollution benefits of all-electric transport - Yorkshire Post Letters

It was recently reported that the cost of air pollution is equivalent to an annual charge per family of £900 or £19bn for the whole UK. This could be greatly reduced by a phased introduction of an all-electric transport policy with a target date of say 2040 for the electrification of most of the national rail network.

This should certainly include all the network in West Yorkshire with increased frequency and line reopenings such as to Wetherby and Ripon and new or reopened stations at many locations like Ossett, East Ardsley, Hipperholme and Methley. Within Leeds, a new municipal tramway coupled with electric buses would also significantly reduce air pollution.

There is no reason why municipal trams and regional electric trains couldn’t share a city centre tunnel to offer high frequency services to major passenger objectives.

These schemes could provide a great reduction in air pollution and, while not a panacea, would offer more people daily improvements to the quality of the air breathed.

It would certainly be a better use of resources than the wasteful and ecologically damaging HS2 currently championed by our elected leaders who favour transport improvement for the few rather than the many.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.