‘City centre gridlock will only be cured by monorail’ Campaigner insists that Metro and buses are not the answer
BIRMINGHAM needs to build a monorail system to solve its city centre snarl-up, a leading congestion campaigner says.
The decision to opt for Metro tram and bus transport improvements instead will see the region “strangle itself ”, says Neil Maybury.
He believes transport bosses are “living in cloud cuckoo land” if they believe congestion will be solved by encouraging more people to take buses and trams.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is currently working on a number of projects aimed at improving the region’s transport network.
Six different Metro lines and three separate Sprint bus routes are set to be completed in the next six years.
But Mr Maybury thinks transport bosses have missed a trick by not considering a monorail.
First put forward in 2009, plans to introduce the system have long been championed by the Greater Birmingham Monorail Company.
Initial proposals were to introduce the technology, which already exists in countries such as Brazil and is set to be built in Dubai and China, along the A34 corridor.
But the decision was made to set up a Sprint bus network instead, with proposals to link it to the Metro in the city centre.
“A monorail doesn’t take up road space, and it can be built very inexpensively and very rapidly,” he says. “And it carries a lot of people.
“We talked to funders who have significant investment available for transport infrastructure projects, and they were very keen to get involved in this.
The problem with the Metro is it’s very slow, has to run on rails in the road, and doesn’t carry very many people Neil Maybury
“They weren’t particularly interested in just one line. They wanted to go for the seven-line option. We’re talking probably between £2.5 billion and £3 billion.”
“The problem with the Metro is it’s very slow, has to run on rails in the road, and doesn’t carry very many people – 10,000 an hour if you’re lucky. I’ve yet to see an absolutely rammed Metro passing through the centre of Birmingham.
“By comparison, monorail will carry something like 40,000 an hour, runs at 55/60 kmh, is environmentally friendly, driverless, doesn’t occupy any road space and the actual cost and time of construction are absolutely fantastic.”
Mr Maybury says TfWM has got wrong.
“We’re now, potentially, going to be left with a city that is going to slowly strangle itself, depending on buses,” he claims. “Because the Metro is not going to do anything at all in its current planning.
“Transport is hugely important to the future of the region in terms of its economic growth, and if we’re just going to carry on building Sprint bus lanes, every time you go down the road you’ll see stationary traffic next to an empty bus lane.” it