Paul Rowen MP's Tramways and Urban Transit Article
Added 28/09/2009Recently I was asked to trial a SEGWAY – the small electric two wheeler personal transport. My colleague Lembit Opik is a big supporter of them and was keen to show me how useful they are. Trouble is their use is not licensed in the UK though they are an increasing common site on the continent. Taking one on the roads is therefore illegal. However Lembit assured me that taking to the streets around Westminster I was unlikely to be arrested! Why is it that the Department of Transport is so resistant to change? Whether it is High Speed Rail or tram-train it seems to take an age for Britain to introduce their use. I was therefore very pleased to see a press release from the DfT announcing city running for the tram-train trial in South Yorkshire. Passengers could soon see tram-trains running between Sheffield and Rotherham on the freight route from Rotherham and then joining the Sheffield Supertram network at the Meadowhall Interchange. No dates for the introduction of this service were given but it marks progress from what civil servants were saying earlier in the year when I and other MPs met them to discuss the tram-train trial. Then progress with on street running was dependant on how well the trial went on the heavy rail sector.
Rail Minister Chris Mole MP made the announcement on a visit to Meadowhall where tram-trains will connect to the Supertram network. What we need to see now is a clear timetable and a commitment to extend the tram-train concept to other cities.
Meanwhile at long last Metrolink is coming to Rochdale. The Rochdale-Oldham Loop line closed on 3rd October. Work will take 2.5 years with the Manchester-Shaw-Oldham section opening next year and the Rochdale section the year after. When it opens we will have a tram to Manchester every six minutes at peak times and every twelve minutes at other times. Progress indeed!