Memorandum by Transport 2000 West Yorkshire
Group (RT 14)
URBAN RAILWAYS IN LEEDS
A detailed study has been carried out by our
group in which we have looked at all schemes, over the last 25
years in all of Britain's Metropolitan cities, to open new stations
and railway lines. As you will see from the survey Leeds has been
ignored and denied funds to develop a proper rail system for the
city. The investment figures (at 1998 prices) for new stations
and systems over the past 25 years in London £2,268 million,
Newcastle £518 million, Manchester £297 million, Sheffield
£272 million, Glasgow £239 million, Birmingham £197
million, Liverpool £147 million and Leeds £4 million
(yes £4 million—not a mistake).
It is helpful to look at the history of rail
in Leeds. At its peak in 1904 Leeds had over 40 surburban railway
stations within its present boundaries. Most of these were closed
during the "Beeching" era when Leeds railways were savagely
cut back, much more than other cities, so that by 1965 the city
had only nine surburban stations. Leeds also had one of the finest
tramway systems in the country before being abandoned in 1959.
Until then it was ahead of most cities with many miles of reserved
tramways. Many of these formations are still intact and intended
to be re-used for the proposed Leeds Supertram.
Since then Leeds has received massive investment
in new roads. In the 1960s and 1970s Leeds had a special relationship
with the Department of Transport, called the "Leeds Approach".
This dismissed the case for using rail and advocated total dependence
on roads promoting the private car and buses. All the other Metropolitan
cities at this time were considering rail transit schemes.
Some changes for the better came with the arrival
of WYPTE and more open minded policies. A new station programme
saw the opening of four new railway stations in Leeds between
1983 and 1988. WYPTE proposed an East Leeds LRT scheme in 1987
but this was opposed by Leeds City Council and subsequently abandoned.
Leeds City Council then proposed its own elevated LRT scheme but
environmental objections resulted in it meeting the same fate.
WYPTE and Leeds City Council then joined forces
and decided upon a full public consultation which resulted in
the Leeds Transport Strategy. This consisted of a balanced transport
plan for Leeds including all forms of transport. The main part
of this was a modern tramway for Leeds of which Line 1 was authorised
by Parliament as the 1993 Leeds Supertram Act.
The previous Government encouraged the major
cities to prepare suitable LRT schemes. The Leeds Supertram met
the criteria, was part of an overall transport strategy resulting
from public consultation and was in the queue awaiting funding.
The present Government arrived on a promise to give greater priority
to public transport as part of an integrated transport policy.
Unfortunately the old Department of Transport
bias appears to have surfaced again. Leeds has not only been denied
funds for Supertram but the DETR is actively trying to kill the
project. It has suggested that buses should do the job instead.
This is in complete contrast to the Government attitude to other
cities. For instance while actively discouraging Leeds not to
proceed with Supertram it awards Nottingham £167 million
for LRT and the Secretary of State approves the Sunderland extension
of the Tyne & Wear Metro. In fact Leeds has a much stronger
claim than Nottingham if these matters were decided on merit.
Leeds has over twice the population, is a Metropolitan city and
the scheme is superior to that of Nottingham's which duplicates
an existing railway and has to rob track from the Robin Hood line.
Other cities are planning LRT and extensions.
Why has Leeds been singled out for such unfair treatment? It appears
to be one rule for other cities, a different one for Leeds. We
appreciate the Government cannot fund all major rail schemes at
once but in view of the lack of support in the past Leeds should
now have top priority if the Government is to be fair.
With regard to the Leeds Supertram it should
be noted that there are higher costs with an initial system because
items such as depots and spare rolling stock have to be ordered.
Once the first phase is in place extensions can be achieved much
more modestly. Therefore Leeds is always going to be at a disadvantage
until a start is made.
We therefore ask your help to support the case
of Leeds for fair play and adequate investment for rail developments.
Leeds people, unlike every other Metro city, are being denied
access to quality rail services. We pay the same rates of taxes
as other cities and should be treated fairly in turn.
Alan Haigh,
Chairman, Rail & Light Rail Group
Transport 2000—West Yorkshire
SURVEY OF URBAN RAIL SCHEMES TO EXTEND RAIL
FACILITIES IN BRITAIN'S METROPOLITAN CITIES
We have done a study examining all the schemes
to extend rail facilities, ie new stations and lines, in Britain's
major cities over the past 25 years.
This study shows conclusively that Leeds has
been treated very unfairly and its case ignored in the allocation
of funds for major rail transit facilities. While Leeds has fared
as well as others in the provision of longer distance rail services
this is not so for the more numerous travel movements within the
urban city area. As a result the people of Leeds have poor access
to the rail network with only 13 suburban railway stations giving
the city very poor quality public transport which is too dependent
on road transport resulting in additional congestion and poor
air quality.
The investment in new rail stations and lines
in Britain's Metropolitan cities over the past 25 years is as
follows:
|
| City | Population
| Investment at 1998 prices
|
|
| London | 6,803,100
| £4,268m |
| Glasgow | 988,394
| £239m |
| Birmingham | 934,900
| £197m |
| Manchester | 822,700
| £297m |
| Liverpool | 780,400
| £147m |
| Leeds | 674,000
| £4m |
| Sheffield | 500,500
| £272m |
| Newcastle | 459,500
| £518m |
|
A breakdown of the survey results is shown as Appendix 1.
Appendix 2 details a Rail Plan for Leeds and Appendix 3 shows
the history of rail projects in Leeds.
As a result Leeds has fallen behind other cities and is now
bottom of the league for quality public transport. Massive property
development continues in Leeds but the city is not allowed the
funds to put in place the transport infrastructure to match. The
implementation of the proposals in Appendix 2 would give Leeds
urban rail facilities comparable with the other cities.
A rail development plan is now required for Leeds including
the Leeds supertram and proposals to open new railway stations
to improve mobility in the city.
February 1999
| 
