Transport Insights

Last week the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) responded to the leaking of the secret “peer review” of its plan for trams by claiming the support of the (now defunct) National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) – but what the NIC actually said does not justify this claim.

A quick recap: The House magazine has obtained the review by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) into WYCA’s mass transit scheme, which was said both to criticise the authority for pursuing “unrealistic milestones” under a “political agenda” and to show buses to be better value for money than trams.

As I reported, in response the WYCA doubled down on mayor Tracy Brabin’s highly performative “spades in the ground by 2028” pledge. But I’ve also obtained its full statement, which both asserts the need for more devolution and invokes the support of the NIC over its insistence on the need for trams, rather than buses.

A spokesperson said:

Delivery of major infrastructure projects in the UK is too slow, and in the spirit of devolution we want to innovate to deliver mass transit more quickly.

NISTA’s predecessor body, the National Infrastructure Commission, set out clearly in 2023 that Leeds needs a tram. 

The second bit is a reference to the Commission’s 2023 Second National Infrastructure Assessment, which does reference the case for trams in Leeds but in a far more cautious way:

Government should commit £22 billion for major transport projects in cities. Two thirds of this should be for major transport projects in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and their wider city regions. The scale of capacity increases that the Commission’s analysis indicates are required in these cities are likely to justify investing in tram or rail based projects, although the exact type and mix of projects is a decision for cities to determine with government based on the costs and benefits.

The assessment also has a recommendation (17) to this effect, albeit without the qualification at the end, which sets out exactly the position that Brabin and the WYCA are unhappy to find themselves in.

The other complication here is that the National Infrastructure Assessment also said at Recommendation 18:

To encourage modal shift and enable an increase in trips in congested cities, government should make the long term funding for major projects outlined in recommendation 17 conditional on recipient cities committing to introduce a demand management scheme, in a way that is designed to work best in the local context.

I’ve asked WYCA if it agrees with this. I’m waiting for a reply.

In the meantime, an editorial in the Yorkshire Post says:

Suggestions for buses to be used in place of a mass transit network for West Yorkshire shows how devolution has not gone far enough

The gist of the piece is:

It’s frankly insulting to ask people in Leeds to make do with buses. A tram network should be a priority for any government serious about growth.

The Whitehall review said it would be a “political embarrassment” if there was a perceived disconnect between a start date for a West Yorkshire mass transit project and the work actually beginning.

What is embarrassing is that Whitehall mandarins think putting more buses on instead is the equivalent of a tram network.

Leaving buses aside, the editorial does seem to miss the point that the disconnect described by the review is a criticism of Brabin’s “spades in the ground” pledge.

This means that while you can agree with the conclusion that…

Equally embarrassing is the fact that the report has been shrouded in secrecy. All it has done is further damaged public confidence. The people of Leeds were already sceptical that the vision for the West Yorkshire mass transit network would ever be realised.

…the idea that publishing the report will help the mayor assert her right to take the project forward as she sees fit is hopelessly misguided.