Memorandum by CENTRO (LR 69)
INTEGRATED TRANSPORT: THE FUTURE OF LIGHT
RAIL AND MODERN TRAMS IN BRITAIN
INTRODUCTION
1. Centro is the corporate identity of the
West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. Centro welcomes this
Inquiry and looks forward to an outcome that will provide clarity
in the decision making process to create confidence and certainty
for those promoting light rail development. Centro firmly supports
the views expressed by pteg to this Inquiry and seeks to make
additional and specifically West Midlands' views available to
the Committee.
2. Midland Metro Line 1 was opened in 1999
and operates mainly on former rail formation between Wolverhampton
City Centre and Snow Hill Station in Birmingham City Centre. It
serves the town centres of West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston.
It is 20.4km long, has 23 stops and offers 450 spaces for Park
and Ride distributed between 4 locations along the route. Surveys
have shown that Line 1 takes an estimated 1.2 million car journeys
off the roads every year. In part this is because light rail systems
can deliver robust reliability. For example, Midland Metro Line
1 is achieving an average of 98.9% for the most recent rolling
two-year period.
3. The government-funded West Midlands Area
Multi-Modal Study made the case for a network of 10 light rail
lines and an expanded bus and heavy rail network, thereby effectively
endorsing the outcomes of Centro's own "High Volume Corridors
Study" and the Centro/WMPTA 20 Year Public Transport Strategy
for the West Midlands.
4. In line with these independent findings,
and as recommended in the NAO report, Centro is seeking to expand
the Midland Metro to better connect with centres of social and
economic activity, to reduce journeys currently made by private
car and to increase accessibility for all. Centro has obtained
the Secretary of State's approval to the making of a Transport
and Works Act Order for an extension linking Brierley Hill, Merry
Hill and Dudley to Line 1 at Wednesbury, and we hope to obtain
powers soon for an extension of Line 1 through Birmingham City
Centre to the business and leisure complex at Five Ways.
5. Longer-term expansion of the system is
planned via routes in preparation for extensions to:
— Varsity North—A34 corridor
from Birmingham city centre to M6 junction 7 including park and
ride;
— Birmingham West—A456 corridor
(Hagley Road) to M5 junction 3 again including park and ride (this
route would be a continuation of Birmingham City Centre Extension);
— Eastside Spur—terminating near
Duddeston Station;
— Wolverhampton to Walsall and Wednesbury
— Airport Route—A45 corridor
from Birmingham city centre to Birmingham International Airport
6. An updated business case for the Birmingham
City Centre (BCCE) and Wednesbury to Brierley Hill (WBHE) extensions,
revised to account for changed methodologies, will be submitted
to the Department for Transport this summer, and Centro is keen
to obtain early approval of the funding application to deliver
benefits to the West Midlands as soon as possible.
7. Following the local elections in June
2004, the new administration in Birmingham is implementing an
election manifesto pledge to undertake a feasibility study is
undertaken into the possibility of an underground light rail system
for central Birmingham. The underground study is due to report
in May 2005. Centro and WMPTA are playing an active part in assisting
the City Council complete the study.
OVERVIEW OF
LIGHT RAIL
8. Light Rail is an efficient way of moving
large numbers of people in urban areas efficiently and in relative
comfort. All systems in the UK operate at or near capacity at
peak times. Patronage is steadily increasing on all schemes, with
a 52% increase since 1999. Also, there are often even more people
travelling at weekends than during the commuting peaks. The schemes
have the potential to carry even larger numbers of people than
now, based on experience from overseas. Annual patronage for Midland
Metro Line 1 is about 5 million. Recent patronage figures show
a year on year increase from December 2003 to December 2004 of
8%, with both these periods including increased activity due to
the new BullRing centre.
9. Light Rail is a key part of the Integrated
Transport Strategy together with bus services, rail services park
and ride and integrated ticketing. Light rail reduces the car's
modal share and help ease traffic congestion to a greater extent
than other alternatives. Light rail is a more economical and accessible
rail system than the traditional heavy rail network. The rate
of modal transfer from car to tram at peak times is consistently
15%-20%. This compares with estimates of between 4% and 6.5% for
quality bus partnerships. Reductions of road traffic of up to
14% after introduction of tram schemes have been recorded. Fifteen
percent of Metro Line 1 passengers using the tram had formerly
used their cars for the same journey over a one-year period.
10. Rail-based modes successfully attract
"park and ride" users and in Centro's experience park
and ride sites on light rail and heavy rail networks fill quickly,
even after expansion. For example, the Priestfield site on Midland
Metro was more than trebled in size from 40 to 130 spaces, and
is again full every day only 2 years after the expansion.
REGENERATION
11. Light rail improves the city's image
and assists urban regeneration. All UK schemes have had positive
effects on the images of the cities in which they have been built,
which have brought benefits in terms of attracting inward investment
as well as business and tourist visitors. This is supported by
the examples from overseas, where the tangible improvements to
a city's image may have been more obvious. Beneficial effects
on property values, both commercial and residential, have accompanied
implementation of tram schemes in the UK. While this economic
regeneration may not be directly attributable to the tram schemes
themselves, they certainly seem to have played an important part
in shaping how this has developed, and helping to channel regeneration
in particular directions.
12. Centro has recently undertaken a study
into the regeneration benefits of Midland Metro Line 1. This showed
that the average number of residential property completions in
the corridor has been higher in each year since Line 1 opened
than prior to opening and 21% of owner-occupiers consider that
Midland Metro has impacted positively on house prices. Other householders
would include access to Midland Metro in their decision to select
another residence. Estate agents have received requests for properties
in the Line 1 corridor and access to Line 1 makes selling residential
properties easier.
13. The study showed that Midland Metro
was influential in the selection of a site for the new Sant Nirankari
Mandal (UK) Centre (a Sikh temple) and was equally influential
in the subsequent granting of planning permission for the site.
It is clear that it is only on its current site because of the
accessibility by Midland Metro. Midland Metro has increased the
effective catchment area of West Bromwich town centre, thereby
giving it the capacity to support greater retail floor space.
ACCESSIBILITY, SAFETY
AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
14. Light rail can provide quick and accessible
links to jobs, for areas of employment deprivation. It also can
provide access for local people to developing community facilities
and shopping opportunities, and improve access and mobility for
people with disabilities.
15. Light rail improves the urban environment
and leads to few accidents. In the UK, light rail schemes are
presently removing approximately 22 million car trips per year
from the roads. The value of avoiding the worsened congestion,
greenhouse gas emissions, noise and local air pollution that would
have occurred as a result of these car trips has not been specifically
identified. Similarly, the pressures on urban land for more road
space and parking that have been relieved have not been specifically
quantified. There are clear safety benefits associated with trams,
which have an excellent safety record. Poor air quality tends
to be concentrated in urban centres. Electrically powered light
rail vehicles can enhance urban air quality by replacing pollution-generating
modes such as car or bus.
HEAVY RAIL
REPLACEMENT
16. The SRA recently published its community
railway development strategy. It may be possible for certain heavy
rail lines to be upgraded with light rail technology to reduce
operating costs and increase the attractiveness of the service
offered. Light rail costs, expressed in cost per kilometre for
example, can be reduced considerably by the use or conversion
of existing heavy rail infrastructure for part or all of a light
rail route, as has been successfully demonstrated in a growing
number of German cities, starting in Karlsruhe and subsequently
being implemented in Saarbrucken, Kassel and Nordhausen for example.
This is being investigated in the West Midlands with a study into
the possibilities for track sharing on the Coventry to Nuneaton
corridor.
COSTS AND
SUBSIDIES
17. Light rail should not be regarded as
a transport system that is more expensive than bus, but as the
optimal public transport system where the case can be made. As
noted below, and in the NAO report, appropriate policies such
as introducing planned bus, rail and LRT public transport networks
and integrated ticketing can have a considerable positive impact
on the number of occasions where light rail will be the optimal
mode.
18. The UK Government regards light rail
as a transport mode that must be profitable and free from subsidy.
It is well known that Government subsidies are required to support
the operation of the heavy rail network nationally, and at a more
local level bus services are subsidised for social inclusion purposes.
Centro contends that a similar approach should apply to light
rail.
NATIONAL AUDIT
OFFICE REPORT
19. Centro agrees with many of the recommendations
of the National Audit Office in its report "Improving Public
Transport in England through Light Rail" and welcomes the
approach taken by the NAO. In particular it supports the suggestions
that the DfT should re-assess whether the requirement that promoters
of light rail systems should pay 92.5% of the cost of diverting
utilities is fair and reasonable, and whether it is consistent
with its transport objectives. Centro considers that fewer services
should be diverted and that the share paid by utilities should
be much greater. In France promoters pay nothing. The estimated
cost of moving utility services to accommodate the proposed Birmingham
City Centre Extension equates to almost one third of the total
estimated capital cost for that extension.
20. Centro also supports the National Audit
Office's findings that safety standards that are specific and
appropriate for light rail should be developed by the DfT and
Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate, rather than the use of inappropriate
and expensive heavy rail standards. Centro would be pleased to
help Government in drawing up such standards, working through
the UK Tram or Project LibeRTiN initiatives.
REGULATORY AND
STATUTORY REGIME
21. Centro is very concerned that changes
currently proposed to reduce considerably the safety inspection
and approval role of HMRI and transfer this elsewhere will add
significantly to project risk and costs, whilst doing nothing
to enhance safety.
22. Centro considers that the Government
should give greater powers to promoters to better control and
integrate other local public transport services with light rail
schemes, through the use of quality contracts for bus services
that link if necessary to achieve timetable co-ordination/integration
with new tram lines and through increased control of local rail
services. The UK provinces are unique in Europe in being expected
to justify light rail schemes that face direct on-street bus competition
and operate without fare integration.
23. Centro believes that the Government
should give greater powers to promoters to provide integrated
ticketing arrangements, which are currently difficult to implement
due to the large number of players in the bus deregulated transport
market.
24. Centro would welcome any means of speeding
up the decision making process for major capital projects. In
particular it would welcome greater stability and certainty in
the criteria upon which the economic case for major projects is
determined. Changes to assessment methodologies over the development
of a project can lead to unhelpful, expensive and time-consuming
re-examination of the economic case.
A NEW APPROACH
TO PROCUREMENT
25. We are working positively with the Department
for Transport (DfT) to ensure that the procurement approach adopted
for system extensions is one that will deliver robust competition,
a sustainable network and value for money. Centro's strategy is
to separately procure the three main elements of the system extensions:
operations, new tram provision/maintenance and infrastructure
provision/maintenance. It is accepted that revenue risk needs
to be shared between Centro and the tram operator, and other risks
need to be placed where they are best managed.
26. In order to achieve its overriding objective
of securing a robust competition and delivering affordable tenders
Centro is firmly addressing the issue of risk and clarity of project
scope in relation to key areas of concern to suppliers such as
third party approvals, service diversions, urban scope, site intelligence
and highway construction details.
27. This new approach should avoid the cost
escalation recently suffered in Manchester and Leeds by separating
out the components of light rail build and operations and ensuring
that the private sector is not wholly responsible for revenue
risk.
Rob Donald
Director General
February 2005
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