YP Letters: Leeds Council gave in without fight on trams

Will lessons be learned from the Leeds trolleybus fiasco?

ONCE again, Tom Richmond raises serious questions about the historic and ongoing state of Leeds City Council’s public transport oversight (The Yorkshire Post, September 16).

Recent ‘Feedback’ contributors have commented on the effectiveness of Sheffield’s trams, one asking why a similar system in Leeds is such a problem. It isn’t; Leeds once  had one of the best systems in the country, with much of it running on segregations which remain.

The problem lies with the council’s craven acceptance of funding denials by both Tory and Labour governments. Similar Westminster denials for extensions to Manchester’s system were met with a resounding ‘get lost’; Leeds Council simply rolled over and launched itself into the dead-in-the-water trolleybus fiasco.

In a saga reminiscent of the navel-gazing 1950s, they continue to promote an all-bus system as the answer to a major European city’s congestion and pollution problems.

The original estimated £500m cost of tram reintroduction has probably doubled.

Given the ease with which  the funding for London’s Crossrail 1 (£16bn) and Crossrail 2 (£30bn) emerged, is the odd billion or two for Leeds really too much to ask?