Manners Cost Nothing

In terms of information, us travellers have never had it so good.
Websites, Twitter, Facebook, text alerts - you name it, our gadgets are vibrating and bleeping with updates.
Some operators are better than others. Some don't tweet at all. Others are burning the midnight oil to keep us updated in the dead of night, helping us complete our journeys from A to B.
The immediacy of social media like Twitter helps break down relationships between user and provider. It's often informal too, proving that whether you're a passenger or someone bashing away at the keyboard with updates good or bad, we're all human, ultimately.
And yet - and I know I have virtually no chance of seeing this happen - I wish some people would have a few manners when interacting with transport providers. Some of the comments I see are quite frankly disgusting.
Late or cancelled trains and buses are frustrating. We all accept that. We have important meetings to attend, jobs to get to, all manner of important journeys - and when things go wrong, it messes up our plans. Passenger Focus highlights the need for transport operators to up their game when it comes to providing information, especially during times of disruption. Again, some are better than others, and in the world of trains, all operators are signing up to a pledge to improve.
But there's nothing more depressing than seeing a string of blatant abuse from some individuals who hide behind their keypads and think they're being clever by venting their spleen. Their offending words say more about them than the disruption they face on their journey. If I was a prospective employer, I wouldn't give them the time of day.
This should be the quid pro quo for transport operators. By all means, accept that passengers are frustrated, upset and angry that they face delays and cancellations.
But basic manners cost nothing. If individuals resort to using foul, abusive language, including swear words, they should just ignore that individual until they can show some self-restraint and manners. There's nothing big or clever in acting like a petulant child, frustrating as the delay may be. Let's show some respect to those trying to help on social media. And let's hope, in many cases in vain, that these silly individuals show some respect to themselves.

The Battle to be Better!

Passenger Focus's Bus Passenger Survey is exactly the sort of research needed to focus one's mind when it comes to perceptions or otherwise on just how good (or not so good) England's buses really are.
Despite what some people like to tell me ("it's all rubbish") 85% of more than 21,000 passengers across the country are satisfied with their buses. There are, however, significant variations in different areas, and it's this devil in the detail that proves to be most fascinating.
The big winners in all of this are Nottingham and Tyne & Wear. Having had Nottingham on "my patch" when I worked at Passenger Focus, I'm really not surprised at this huge vote of confidence. I met some really dedicated people at operators like TrentBarton, Nottingham City Transport, Premiere, and both the City and County Councils. There seemed to me to be a "can do" attitude. The trams compliment the public transport scene and the City Centre almost takes on a continental theme whereby public transport is most definitely seen as the sensible, default way of travelling.
To create this environment, difficult political choices have to be made. There is bus priority in Nottingham, and I recall inspecting a mobile camera unit that compliments the effective monitoring of the bus only areas. Bus operators battle on quality issues - there are very few examples of old bangers in this City!
Likewise, Tyne & Wear is another hotbed of the best in bus services, and a fitting tribute in no small part to the late Peter Huntley, who ran Go North East. I've visited Sunderland and Newcastle a couple of times in recent years and things are good. It comes as absolutely no surprise to me that both these areas top the charts in user satisfaction.
Of more concern to me is the poorer showing closer to home in the West Midlands. As a champion of public transport around these parts, I almost take it personally!
What's not so good in the Centro area?
Punctuality is marked down, and this I have long-argued is a major problem in the West Midlands urban area. Whilst no-one is ever saying we can wave a magic wand to dispel our congestion woes, I've never felt the political desire to tackle it head on like other parts of the country do. If we don't want to confront it and accept the endless traffic jams as "just the way it is", can we really expect the area's bus users to report that punctuality is good? My work with Bus Users UK locally in partnership with National Express West Midlands vividly shows just what a battle the bus operator has to consistently run a good punctual service - there are a hell of a lot of variables on the West Midlands roads!
This impacts onto the other main strand of the Passenger Focus research - Value For Money.
How does one quantify "value for money"? Journey experience? Fare paid? comfort and speed of journey? Other journey experiences? Information? Of course it can be any of these and all of them.
Again, the West Midlands urban area isn't near the top. Having used buses all over the country, we have, still, some of the cheapest fares in the country around here, but that's only one part of what a passenger might consider when considering value for money, of course. One of the other interesting quirks to come out of the research is that passengers in the Centro area feel amongst the most uneasy in the country about their fellow passengers. Again, going back to when I worked at Passenger Focus, we commissioned some specific research into this issue. The Safer Travel Team do some really good work and offences on our local bus network have been reduced by over 60% in the last 4 years. The "See Something Say Something" campaign is very effective, but still the concerns obviously exist.
Should we be pleased ultimately that 85% of England's bus users feel satisfied with their buses? It proves that they aren't the disaster area that the doom-mongers keep professing to me that they are, but I'm far from satisfied!
The bus industry faces significant challenges to attain satisfaction ratings that other industries do. Much of this, I maintain, is down to the fact that they aren't in control of their own destiny much of the time. Buses are all about getting from A to B, and if they don't have control of the "track", it reflects badly on them when the service fails to arrive on time. This is why bus priority is so important, despite it being a thorny issue for local councillors.
Bus operators do have to think about the best possible image for their products though. Cleanliness is vital. Yes, we know that the creators of litter are the passengers themselves, and some areas are worse than others, but its an area I feel that some operators simply do not keep on top of enough.
For those "top of the class" in this survey, they can be proud of what they are achieving. For those below, the battle to be better has to be uppermost in their minds!

Late is The Word

In Croatia, it's "kasno". The Germans call it "spat" (with the umlaut). And our good friends and near neighbours in France refer to it as "tard". It all means the same, and brings a universal feeling of frustration. "Late".
Whenever I sing the praises of public transport, I'm reminded of this word. Because punctuality and reliability in the world of public transport is everything. Any measure of public mood on our buses, trains, trams and coaches - whether scientific or on the back of a fag packet - nearly always comes back to this.
So I'm always mindful that, despite the shiny new trains, the revolutionary "new bus for London", the environmentally-friendly hybrid vehicles and the exciting tram extension into Birmingham City Centre, any experience of public transport will overwhelmingly be based on whether it turns up on time. Or not.
Why am I stating what ought to be the obvious?
It's because I don't think public transport operators do enough to explain delays to an increasingly irritated and frustrated public. Communication is everything.
Communication regarding delays on the rail network is something Passenger Focus are keen on. Yet I think the rail industry on the whole does better than buses in getting the message across.
Let's be clear. Contrary to some views based on ignorance, this isn't easy. Whenever the bus or train is late, it's automatically the fault of the operator in some people's eyes - and it's obviously being done deliberately. That's why operators have to, in my view, almost "go on the offensive" to explain delays - warts and all.
A few weeks ago, I encountered a rather irate gang of pensioners in a bus queue. The service had a frequency of every 10 minutes, but no bus had been seen for over 20. Much talk of 2,3 and even 4 buses coming together. I dropped a quick text to someone in authority at the bus company concerned and quickly learnt that an "unofficial demonstration" at the other end of the route was the cause of this. Hardly the bus operator's fault, but once I'd quickly communicated this to my fellow travellers, they were more understanding of the problem.
There are several issues here to consider.
I was in a fairly unique situation. Most people haven't got access to senior bus company managers. I had more chance of finding out what was going on then most. Yet once the reason was clear, the frustration subsided. Communication helped enormously.
Now, this isn't going to be possible out on the road in many instances, but this particular example was in a bus station, with bus company and other staff present. With digital displays all around us and recorded announcements reminding us not to smoke, is communication so difficult a nut to crack?
If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you'll know that I'm endlessly updating my status (and others!) with travel news. But Twitter and Facebook are still, effectively, "niche" products, although growing all the time.
But whilst we still have some way to go to communicate delays, cutting down on the causes of them remains a huge challenge.
On rail, there exists a clear chain of command when it comes to delays, what has caused them and how best to deal with them. On the road, it's an entirely different story.
We're a crowded island, and despite the media's obsession with the "hard done to" motorist (I'm one myself, before anyone accuses me of being anti-car) we have mostly unrestricted car access to everywhere. If we accept that we aren't going to impose some form of car restriction for the good of the nation to tackle congestion, we surely must accept that the most efficient and effective vehicle to move people (i.e. the bus) must have priority to benefit the largest number of people?
So if bus lanes help to give this priority, why are there always howls of derision whenever I suggest that we need more of them?
A letter writer to the the local paper took me to task for suggesting this, commenting that he didn't know where ANY bus lane was successful! Well, of course, they need to be properly policed for maximum effectiveness (and goodness knows how many times I see people blatantly flouting the law and driving in them), but the benefits are there for all to see. And bus operators usually respond with good vehicles and decent frequency services to take advantage.
We need Councillors to back such ideas. Difficult decisions, maybe, as bus lanes are rarely popular amongst non-bus users, but I've seen blatant mischief-making by them to win short-term votes. The same Councillors are then often quick to lambaste bus operators for running late buses!
And when the Government takes a ground-breaking decision (not often in the transport world!) on building High Speed 2 - which will bring many benefits - the doom-mongers are at it again.
Rail operators are getting better at explaining delays. Bus operators - although the job is infinitely more difficult - are less so, although some like the often groundbreaking Go North East are good at explaining their reliability figures.
To understand traffic congestion and the difficulties bus operators face, I need do no more than walk to the top of my street during the peaks. On some days, the road is congested as far as the eye can see. On others, it flows freely. How can bus operators plan for that? In other areas, congestion IS predictable, and this is where it can be best tackled, with the will of those in authority to do so.
Delays are a huge issue for public transport and its users. The challenge for publicly-elected politicians is to tackle congestion on our roads with long-term thinking. For operators, the challenge is communicate the delays truthfully and honestly. For the travelling public, it is to think a little more honestly as to WHY their journey may be delayed. Is the bus driver REALLY having an extra cup of tea at the terminus?
Delays are hugely frustrating, but is a torrent of fowl-mouthed abuse on a social networking site or worse still in person really going to help?

Are Buses Local?

What endears passengers to their bus? In many respects, nothing!
Certainly at this time of year, running on time is surely the number one requirement (as it should be at any time of the year - except us passengers feel it more acutely at -5C when it's late!)
Passenger's "relationship" with their bus service can often run deeper though. Let's be honest, unless you're a fan of buses, your excitement levels will barely reach above "mundane" on the Richter scale when one appears. But you don't have to be a bus enthusiast to appreciate your local bus service a little bit more.
Around my local parts, National Express West Midlands has been running a "Love Your Bus" campaign. I see the thinking and logic behind it, but such a campaign is meaningless unless passengers are genuinely delighted with their travel experience. I'm usually satisfied with NX services, but "wow" factors are rare, unlike when I use some of the UK Bus Awards winning companies.
It's a bit like First's TV advertising campaign last year. Like them, I agree that "buses are our future", and I actually think that the industry should shout more about the vital and good work that it does every day. But First's TV ad was too cheesy! A bit of fun, maybe, but the result was, at best, some disbelief from regular passengers, and at worst a slating from some quarters.
But First is up to something more subtle, and the results could deliver far more than a jolly TV ad.
"Better Journeys For Life" is MD Giles Fearnley's attempt at turning around First's UK bus division. The new "manifesto" contains new commitments to customers, staff, partners, shareholders, safety, the environment and "developing the art of listening".
I've used First services throughout the UK, and whilst I don't necessarily buy into the "company bashing" that some people engage in, I've often been left with a niggling cold "corporate" feel to their services, which begins with the "barbie" pink livery.
Now, the colour of the bus shouldn't matter one iota, yet I believe company livery is vital to kicking off a passenger's experience with a bus company. Some of the UK's best operators have understood this. TrentBarton in Nottingham and Derby have employed the services of designer Ray Stenning to stunning effect. Ditto Go North East. The result is a plethora of individually liveried routes. What's so special about that? I think it encourages a subtle feeling of "ownership" inside regular passengers. "That's MY bus" - because, it has a hyper-local feel to it. Add other elements of community feel, such as regular drivers who get to know their passengers and you have, potentially, a winning formula. And for visitors and non-regular users, the bright individuality of a route is reassuring. When I was carrying out some mystery shopping for Go North East a few years ago, I found myself in places I'd never been before - the sight of, say, a bright orange bus on the "Fab 56" service (as it has been branded) gives a lot of confidence to the intending traveller.
Buses ARE local. They serve their local communities and are at the heart of them. I've never really felt that imposing national branding has been the right way forward. Even the National Bus Company of the 70s acknowledged that, despite the monolith livery imposed from the top of the tree, the local operating name survived.
First's move to "localise" operations is as welcome as is necessary. As part of its "Better Journeys For Life" manifesto, a gradual image change to something more local will follow, starting in Leeds.
And yet, the "new" livery isn't that different to what is already there. I suspect a wholesale change might have proved to much, too fast. And of course, it would have taken literally years to repaint the entire 8000+ First fleet (as is proving with the achingly slow transition from Travel West Midlands to National Express West Midlands around my local area).
But it's a start, and I wish Giles Fearnley all the very best in his quest to make First a more human, friendly face. He's certainly the man to achieve this.
It'll be fascinating to see how this progresses.

The Badger in the 4 Foot - A New Job on the Railway

"As one door closes, another one opens", someone once remarked.
The blog has been quiet in recent months, but I haven't lost interest! Rather, I've been concentrating on a new job in the world of public transport.
For more years than I care to remember, both on a voluntary and paid capacity, I've been involved in passenger representation. My roles firstly at Bus Users UK and in more recent times at Passenger Focus have been fascinating.
Since losing my role at Passenger Focus through enforced budget cutbacks, I was determined to stay in public transport. Whilst the industry has its fair share of critics, I believe passionately in the product, in all its various guises. Yes, there's always more to do, and provision of public transport transport in this country is often a complex web of responsibility, but its such an important sector. That's why, when I walked out of the revolving door at Passenger Focus last year, I wasn't walking out of public transport for good.
So when the opportunity to work in public transport on the front line became available, I jumped at it!
For 15 years, I worked in the NHS, initially as a hospital porter. I loved the job back then and missed the "front line" service, even though I had some wonderful times at Bus Users UK and Passenger Focus.
The chance to work on the railways, providing the service, was something I had to try.
The Parry People Mover is something unique in the railway world. It's actually designated a railcar, and provides a high frequency service (every 10 minutes) on the Stourbridge branch line. And here was an opportunity to drive it!
I'd long been a fan of the Class 139 (to give it it's correct terminology). It's flywheel technology means that it's much more environmentally-friendlier than the large diesel class 153 unit it replaced. It runs more frequently than its predecessor and it has a flat-level entrance making it much more easily-accessible for buggies and wheelchair users. it's a perfect solution for small branch lines such as Stourbridge, and the hope is that it can be the catalyst for more reopening of disused railway lines.
But to drive it, I'd need to go through the training course!
First up, a psychometric test. These are several elements of tests, including concentration, memory and logic. Some of my fellow candidates failed and I'd convinced myself that I too hadn't made it! They're tough! Then a structured interview in which I had to describe an emergency situation. I was fairly mentally exhausted at the end of the day!
Having survived the opening hurdle, its then on to learning the rules and regulations of the railway. And there are lots of them.
The first thing that struck me about the railway is the emphasis put on safety. As passengers, we take for granted the safety of our railways, but it really is the most important element of the job. Signals, methods of work, who does what, who doesn't do what, the phonetic alphabet (yes, I can do it all the way through!) - it all has to be learnt and tested on.
I obtained my personal track safety competency - the highlight of which was walking on the track at Kings Norton with CrossCountry Voyagers passing at speed - a lesson in understanding that, even at short distance, you can't hear trains approaching until they're really close. That's why Network Rail's education work in keeping schoolkids off the track is so vitally important - you won't get a second chance if a train hits you.
Back at Stourbridge Junction, the theory work ongoing, the practical work of actually driving the class 139 was the next step. I'd had a go on the private section of the track next to the depot, but now was my time to take it down the three-quarters of a mile single line down to Stourbridge Town!
Of course, safety being the number one priority, this would be in the dead of night, no passengers on board and the destination display set decisively to "Not In Service"!
And so it was, myself and the instructor, set off from Stourbridge Junction at gone midnight, through the first set of points at 4mph, gradually rising to 10mph on my first trip, down a gradient of 1 in 63 to the deserted Stourbridge Town. And we repeated this. All night long.
The line speed is 20mph, so hardly "High Speed Rail" (!) but it's certainly a bit hairy when you see a badger in the 4 foot (between the rails) looking at you! There's all sorts of wildlife on the branch line, including foxes, magpies, a buzzard (named "Leighton" by the drivers) and a ginger cat who leaves his tail tantalizingly on the rail until the last possible moment in a cheeky "man v cat" battle of mind games.....
Several overnights ensued in order to get used to the feel of handling the railcar and then it was time for the next stage - driving under supervision in public service.
At 0547 one dark wintry morning before Christmas, I trundled down the line from Junction to Town, carrying my first passenger! I don't think he was bothered, his book keeping him entirely engrossed.
Many more shifts carried out, under supervision, I gained confidence in driving with the comfort and safety of my passengers uppermost in my mind, even though the cat was still playing games and the fox liked to skip along the rail before diving off into the undergrowth.
More workbooks, more assessments, more supervised driving hours until, early in January, I was finally deemed ready to be passed out to drive unsupervised as a fully-fledged member of staff.
The job also involves checking tickets and helping passengers and its great to see our regulars on a daily basis. In many aspects, there's a real community feel to the operation, with a regular team of staff carrying, mostly, regular travellers. We see them going to work in the morning, and we see them coming home at night, off to the shops, even returning, suitcase-laden, from their holidays!
The 0330 alarm call for the early shift has little glamour attached to it (!) but I'm enjoying the experience tremendously!
And I'm still "jumping back over the fence" and helping to represent passenger interests in the world of buses as a volunteer with Bus Users UK - a role I first took up over 20 years ago when it was still known as the National Federation of Bus Users!
Now - tickets and passes please.....

Brum's Moving On.....

Over the years, I've often been critical of Birmingham's seemingly half-hearted commitment to public transport. I've watched enviously places like London and Manchester pushing on with making the public transport user's lot better. For years, Brum appeared not only to stand still, but to actually move backwards by removing the bus priority on Tyburn Road - what did that tell us about the City's intentions towards public transport?
Now, for the first time in my living memory at least, things appear to be on the up.
£800m is being spent on us bus, train, tram and plane passengers and it's looking very interesting.
New Street Station has long been in need of a facelift. Why should railway stations not be places where you'd like to spend some quality time? I've often taken time out in places like Manchester Piccadilly and Berlin's Hauptbahnhof to have a bite to eat or drink. St. Pancras' Eurostar terminus surely sits proudly at the top of the list for the modern day theatre of railway romance. One of my favourite haunts is the delightful Centenary Lounge within the surrounds of the gorgeously restored Birmingham Moor Street. Lovely staff serving lovely food and drink as you watch the world go by. Hopefully we'll soon start to feel good about New Street, rather than the chaotic turn off it often portrays.
Birmingham Airport too is expanding. Whilst I'm more in favour of short hops around the UK and close neighbours in Europe being made by train (bring on HS2 as soon as possible, I say!), for longer journeys to different continents it would be great to go from Brum. For a relatively short time, Ryanair used to fly from Brum to Frankfurt Hahn, close to the Mosel Valley - my favourite German destination. How convenient it was to hop across to Birmingham Airport and in a couple of hours I was drinking the locals wine. Mr O' Leary withdrew that route and now, the trip to Stansted is more of a consideration for my German jaunts. Which is why, for selfish reasons in this example, I can't wait to see HS2 come to Birmingham. To link this into the existing HS1 would mean Brum to Germany becoming a really attractive proposition by rail.
And then there's the Metro. Ah, our dear Metro. Who'd have thought that, over 10 years ago when I rode on one of the first trams, we'd still be waiting to add bits to it. It's a damning indictment on the way us Brits do light rail that we're getting excited over a small extension to the Metro from Snow Hill through the heart of the City to New Street. Welcome, yes! By why does it have to take so long? We should be building a whole network of Midland Metro lines by now.
Nevertheless, excited I am. Cities need trams. It makes a statement of intent that public transport is important.
But the Metro City Centre extension is not without some concerns. I was interviewed on BBC WM a few days ago regarding not the positive side of the Metro extension, but the downside of kicking large numbers of buses out of Corporation Street to accommodate it. Centro are taking the opportunity to reconfigure most of the City Centre bus stops because of this and grouping services into "hubs". My view is that, whilst upheaval is always unsettling for some, we may be able to benefit from simplification. For example, if I want to catch a bus from Birmingham to Dudley, I can hedge my bets across 5 different bus routes, departing from large numbers of locations right across the City Centre. Now, whilst that may be beneficial depending on where I am in the City, it also means that I'm constantly wondering why the bus at my preferred location hasn't turned up. Should I walk to another location and try a different service? Or stay where I am in the hope that it turns up? By grouping services together into hubs, I can potentially stand in the "hub" and take my pick from several different services going to the same location. This already happens in the City Centre for several groups of services, but the hub idea may develop on that. And the longer-term plan to introduce a Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme for all buses using the City Centre (similar to Nottingham) can only increase the quality of the service being provided. What a pity the radio interview only focused on what it considered to be a negative impact.
Then there's the "Sprint" initiative, bringing tram-like buses to the City Centre. Initially planned to run from 5-Ways to Walsall using the excellent bus priority along the A34, this service will bring high quality service, with priority at traffic lights, and a real step-change from what we already have. It might even be the prelude to a Metro extension along a similar route.
This is all great news for the public transport user and proves what can be done if the vision is there, but more importantly the will to see it through.
I'd still like to see more improvements "at the coalface" such as more bus priority, and more enforcement of existing bus-only areas - in fact I've been really pleased to see the Police actively enforcing entrance to Corporation Street on two occasions in recent weeks.
We mustn't also forget the "Shiny New Trains" running through the City, introduced by London Midland, really upping the journey experience forv those using the Snow Hill lines, and the recent upgrade to Chiltern's services further afield to London, reducing the journey time, simplifying the fare structure and of course selling the best bacon rolls anywhere on the rail network! The bus operators too are placing new buses onto the network, some of them with hybrid engines that provide the cleanest, greenest emissions yet.
Add to this the long-awaited Oyster-style Smartcard and public transport will not only be more attractive and reliable, it will be simpler and de-mystified for many people.
Things are looking up in Brum for us public transport users. Long may it continue!

Back To The Future - How Trams Are Back In Vogue

Has anyone else noticed how trams are quietly making their way up the transport agenda in Britain?
It wasn't so long ago that they were regarded as expensive bits of kit that no one really wanted to fund. A "glamorous" addition to a City Centre's transport portfolio, which somehow made us look more European, new tramways seemed to cause more heartache amongst stakeholders during the procurement and construction process (if it ever got that far) then almost anything else. It's certainly true that Edinburgh's new tramway is an appalling advertisement of how not to build a new system.
For years, we've had frustrations here in the West Midlands. For as long as I can recall, there has been talk of a strategic network of tram lines across Centro land. To date, we have just the one, from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, which largely utilises an old rail line. Almost everyone agrees that a network of lines is the way to go. Yet whilst the French take a City and build several lines in the space of a few years, we have talked and talked until we're blue in the face about extending Midland Metro to the point whereby the half mile extension into the City Centre is a huge cause for celebration. We shouldn't even be batting an eyelid at this. The real talking point should be the additional 4, or 5, or 6 new lines that we need to demonstrate that we're serious about public transport in this area.
I'm as excited as anyone about the City Centre extension - seeing trams on our City streets certainly makes a statement. But progress elsewhere is painfully slow.
But is all this "can't do, won't do" attitude changing?
Centro has always been positive about promoting a new network of trams.
Now it seems that Government - led by Transport Minister Norman Baker - are warming to trams.
As well as the Birmingham City Centre extension, HM Gvt has given its blessing to extensions to the Manchester and Nottingham networks, an upgrade to Blackpool's iconic tramway, modernisation of the Tyne & Wear system, and projects to investigate the feasibility of "tram-train" operation (trams that run on both street-level and existing heavy rail lines) on Sheffield-Rotherham and St.Albans-Watford lines. Locally, a similar "tram-train" operation remains an idea for Stourbridge Junction-Brierley Hill journeys along a lightly-used freight line. Vehicles such a version of the highly-successful Parry People Mover could be used.
This is all very welcome stuff.
The Department for Transport has produced a report entitled "Green Light for Light Rail", which, although noting that "building light rail systems has become expensive", acknowledges that they can also "help improve the attractiveness of public transport in major conurbations...promoting economic growth and reducing carbon through modal shift."
UKTram is a consortium of PTEg (Passenger Transport Executive Group), CPT (Confederation of Passenger Transport - the industry group), Transport for London and the Light Rapid Transit Forum. They have been asked to produce a report on how to reduce costs through standardisation and harmonisation of design. This surely makes eminent sense. The example of the Midland Metro Italian trams is one that should never have come to this - each one is now supposedly "unique" part-wise. To have a framework or template of procurement and harmonisation across different UK systems is how it should be.
Another aspect UKTram will look at is the major cost implication of diverting utilities running beneath the proposed tramway.
Norman Baker is also planning to Chair a Light Rail summit, and DfT will start consulting on how capital funding for transport schemes can be devolved to Local Authorities - a catalyst Centro is interested in to try and kick start a revival in funding Midland Metro extensions.
Trams are good. They give a City that certain "wow" factor and give a subliminal message that the City is serious about transport. Whenever I'm in Europe, City tramway systems fascinate me and I'm always impressed how so many people use them. For some reason I don't really fathom, there is less "stigma" attached to catching a tram then a bus, especially for irregular users. In the UK, just look at how trams have transformed Nottingham City Centre. Coupled with exceptional bus services in that City, there is a feeling that public transport is taken really seriously there. Ditto Manchester.
Horses for courses, maybe. Trams won't work everywhere, and sometimes there are cheaper options, such as the impressive Guided Busway in Cambridge. But for City Centres and large conurbations, the tram makes a statement.
Let's hope Norman Baker and UKTram can push on to a position where trams are once again seen across many of our UK Cities, providing quality public transport.