Traffic solution on the wrong tracks

Yet again another pro-tram exponent Andrew Braddock (Letters, December 10) feels that trams are the solution to the traffic congestion and pollution in the city of

Bath. It’s all very well saying that trams are popular on.the Continent in places like Austria, Belgium, etc, as ‘proof’ that they can work in Bath.

Yes, trams are the solution in large cities like Sheffield and Manchester where there are wide avenues that can accommodate trams, buses, cars and pedestrians.

But not in a very small city like Bath with narrow streets. That was probably the reason it ceased as a viable option years ago, when the popularity of cars and buses increased.

I can’t see trams going up and down the narrow streets of Bath. They will clog up Bath and are dangerous to other vehicles and pedestrians.

Trams will never be an alternative to cars and buses. That horse bolted years ago. You can reduce the number of cars coming into Bath but you can’t stop them, and buses are a more flexible means of transport that can go anywhere - they are not tied to tracks.

Also bus companies like First Bus are committed to finding alternative fuels for buses which will be low emission in the years to come.

Mr Braddock agrees that there would be high costs of construction. But what a waste of time, effort and money that would be if nobody used the trams and they were not financially viable.

Then B&NES would have to spend money again in dismantling the whole network of tracks. Stephen Chesworth Bath