Infrastructure
With the announcement today that the chancellor proposes to spend as much as £15 billion on transport infrastructure (mainly on tram systems), quote; "The money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West Country.
The move comes before the government's spending review next week, which will determine how much money each Whitehall department gets over the next three to four years.
Reeves has been under pressure from Labour MPs to spend money following criticism of relentless economic gloom, particularly concerning disability and benefit cuts.
Trams form the backbone of the investment plans, with Greater Manchester getting £2.5bn to extend its network to Stockport and add stops in Bury, Manchester and Oldham, and the West Midlands getting £2.4bn to extend services from Birmingham city centre to the new sports quarter.
There will also be £2.1bn to start building the West Yorkshire Mass Transit programme by 2028, and build new bus stations in Bradford and Wakefield.
Six more metro mayors will receive transport investments:
£1.5bn for South Yorkshire to renew the tram network as well as bus services across Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham by 2027
£1.6bn for Liverpool city region with faster connections to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Everton stadium and Anfield, and a new bus fleet in St Helens and the Wirral next year
£1.8bn for the North East to extend the Newcastle to Sunderland Metro via Washington
£800m for West of England to improve rail infrastructure, provide more frequent trains between the Brabazon industrial estate in Bristol and the city centre, and develop mass transit between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset
£1bn for Tees Valley including a £60m platform extension programme for Middlesbrough station
£2bn for the East Midlands to improve road, rail and bus connections between Derby and Nottingham.
The transport investment marks Reeves' first open move away from the stringent rules in the Treasury's Green Book, external, which is used by officials to calculate the value for money of major projects.
The book has been criticised for favouring London and the south-east. Labour MP Jeevun Sandher, a member of the Treasury Committee, complained of its "hardwired London bias" in April.
In a speech in Greater Manchester, the chancellor said that sticking to book's rules has meant "growth created in too few places, felt by too few people and wide gaps between regions, and between our cities and towns"*.": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c331ln47e7ko?xtor=AL-71-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_id=C3656B4C-40F1-11F0-A9D5-A217A8469EBF&at_format=link&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_medium=social&at_link_origin=BBCPolitics&at_link_type=web_link
*Italics mine.
..it is vital that the notion and nature of integrated transport infrastructure be re-examined, should we do so we may well find that this sum can be reduced and the cost ameliorated by first properly considering the type of transport ecology we wish to create. Trams are great (perhaps a monorail?) however, given that we are currently transitioning from (esp.) internal combustion engines to electric motors (and are consequently presented with the question of defining the difference between vehicles of low, medium and high capacity be they single or multi-track*) and that transition will define the changes in infrastructure they must also define the changes in rolling stock. In other words are your trams truly going to help form that link between the "hard" and "soft" transport infrastructure that will increase the diversity and hence sustainability of the system?
*Nb. What do you call a pedal-assisted single or multitrack vehicle? A "partial engagement" vehicle or "human assisted" (for instance)? Even the terminology needs a shakedown, must apply those "intersectionalities"! It's all the Al-Gore-isms dear!
There has already been huge investment in the development of new rolling stock for the railways, go to: https://news.arriva.co.uk/news/arriva-group-invests-in-new-battery-hybrid-train-fleet-in-boost-to-uk-rail-industry & https://www.rsnevents.co.uk/new-trains-on-the-horizon-for-uk-operators/ Yet technical specifications esp. regarding capacity for transporting human assisted, low/medium capacity single and multitrack, one or two person vehicles (we really are suffering from a dearth of terminology here) including accessibility, storage and charging are conspicuous by their general absence. This absence defining both the quality and scale of the debate within the general population, notable because majority consensus regarding the response to climate change and other environmental concerns is, otherwise, considered vital.
It should be remembered that accessibility for such vehicles would ipso facto ensure that rolling stock also be accessible for those in wheelchairs and for the disabled and partially-able generally, to, therefore, not also consider making provision for all vehicles that require such to (at least partially) charge, especially on longer journeys, is asinine (more so considering that much of the new rolling stock is itself electrified).
For both trains and trams accessibility means platform level access (be that raised or otherwise) doors wide enough to safely deal with most requirements and staffing oversight for the general welfare of all passengers.. quote: "Rail union, RMT has welcomed the Transport Select Committee’s Access Denied: rights versus reality in disabled people’s access to transport report, following its inquiry into accessibility for disabled people on the transport network.
RMT gave oral evidence to the inquiry in September 2023 after the previous Government pushed plans to close nearly 1,000 ticket offices and cut around 2,300 station staff jobs.
These controversial plans were only scrapped after a massive public backlash, led by a combination of RMT, disabled and older passengers.
The Committee has now confirmed that these cuts "risked significantly damaging people’s access to the rail network."
Staff presence "is often a crucial determinant of whether safe and independent travel is possible at all" and that the "Turn Up and Go" system becomes much harder to deliver with fewer staff at stations or onboard trains, the report found.
The Committee has urged the Government to ensure that the transition to Great British Railways (GBR) does not further reduce accessibility and must remain inclusive of different passengers needs.
RMT is calling on the Government to put passenger accessibility and safety at the heart of its plans for GBR, which must include protecting and expanding ticket offices, maintaining and increasing station staff levels, and ending the practice of driver-only operation.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Railway staff are essential to delivering a safe and accessible network for all passengers and this report shows that.
"Ticket office closures were stopped by the strength of our campaign and the support of older and disabled passenger groups.
"It is important that passengers do not feel forced to rely solely on ticket machines or apps as they do not always meet the accessibility needs of all travellers.
"A properly staffed railway is a necessity and the Government must ensure that ticket offices remain open, continue to be adequately staff, and every train has a second safety-critical member of staff on board.
"The Government must now act to ensure Great British Railways prioritises access and safety for all*.”": https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/staff-cuts-undermine-accessibility-transport-select-committee/
*Italics mine, as both a UNITE Community and Spectrum (centre for independent living) member I heartily concur and suggest that cutting staff on the railways is oxymoronic when one is trying to encourage greater use of public transport in a time of crisis.
I am very much afraid that (just like the bas-relief of St Barbe Baker in the video) the Chancellor's plans will turn out to be window dressing, neoliberal greenwash for an exploitative status quo of vested interests desperately trying to cling to power at a time of fundamental change.
We cannot afford to waste opportunities to transform infrastructure with half-measures.
Consider instead a transport system that encompasses "hard", "medium" and "soft" approaches, for we search for our own Goldilocks Planet (not some other) integrating "Slow Ways", quote; "Slow Ways began in 2020 as an initiative led by geographer Dan
Raven-Ellison, aiming to connect every town, city and national landscape
in Britain through thoughtfully designed walking routes. Volunteers
drafted routes between 2,500 settlements using existing rights of way.
Slow Ways routes aim to:
- Be safe, direct, and accessible
- Avoid roads where possible
- Include resting places every 5–10 km
- Pass through public transport hubs
- Be enjoyable and easy to navigate
You can see all ten of the design principles here.
Not all routes are accessible to everyone, but we are working to let people know which paths and routes are good for them.
Routes are tested by walkers and wheelers (wheelchair and scooter users) who share reviews with star ratings. A route with three or more positive reviews is verified – a tried-and-tested pathway for others to enjoy.
People can also survey routes for surface quality, gradients, and potential obstacles, such as stiles or mud. Routes are graded using a system developed by Experience Community, helping people choose paths that suit their needs.": https://beta.slowways.org/Page/about"
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/slowways
..a "soft" transport infrastructure both with trams and canals (intersectional or "median" infrastructure) and the "hard" infrastructure of roads, rail, air and sea. The key to which (and this won't surprise those to whom such is of most concern) is accessibility. Integration requires universal accessibility, that which is not accessible is not integrated. Work in progress perhaps yet emergent.
Hatch Farm on Arafel
"The housing development has turned the beautiful, picturesque village of West End in to just another dormitory": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2019/12/journey-man-walkinginthewildwestend.html
"Isn't it time they gave something back? I propose that the Moorfield site should be developed (and that only in part, on the western half of the land -nearest the existing entrances-), by the construction of an environment centre, that this be done sensitively using sustainable materials and include sustainable heat and power systems (mainly solar but a small windmill could also be considered), this especially so given the exposed position which is ideal for the maximum efficiency of such. The area where nature has now established a toe-hold should be left as undisturbed as possible.": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2020/08/walking-in-wild-west-end-pt-2_18.html
"..further pictures of the proximity of the Telegraph Woods ("rat-run"), to both the Moorhill Hse. site and the Boundary Lakes Golf Course. The last picture was taken over-the-fence from the path in the Telegraph Woods that I was walking when "bombarded" from the tee of the hole by a local golfer (and where a young child out walking with his father "discovered" an orange golf-ball when I was researching for this blog a week or so later), clearly the hole is too close to the woodland, there can be no argument, it is beholden upon the Boundary Lakes Golf Course to address this problem as soon as possible. I would even argue that the course should be closed until the situation is rectified.": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2020/09/walking-in-wild-west-end-pt-3.html
Also see Walking in the Wild West End Playlist, Wolf's Head Video: https://www.youtube.com/@AndreaGail42
