Birmingham Friends of the Earth Newsletter February 2002/March 2002
Transport
As ever, transport issues have been high on the agenda. The Multi Modal studies
have seen a return to the old road building of the past with schemes such as
the widening of the M42, the M6 and the Western Orbital motorway back on the
agenda. The really depressing fact of the Multi Modal Studies is that exactly
what we predicted is happening. All of the old road schemes are re-emerging.
This is not only true here in the West Midlands but all over the country. Also
it is depressing how much money we are prepared to throw at these schemes nearly
a31billion for those mentioned above!!!
The verbiage is fine - integrated, changing hearts and minds, addressing behaviour,
safety, promotion of the alternatives BUT when it comes to writing the reports
what are the headlines? - roads, roads and roads. Even more galling is that they
eat up huge amounts of the money and are ready to go while the Strategic Rail
Authority on 14th January announced that any rail schemes emerging from the Multi
Modal Studies will not be taken forward for at least 10 years.
Our rail campaign took off with a training day in Birmingham on January 19th
which also coincided with a Sustrans event in the City and culminated in a meeting
of minds and social in the City Centre during the evening. We will continue to
campaign for local transport to be fundamental in decision-making as opposed
to accommodating single occupied cars travelling on the motorways and big energy
intensive, expensive schemes dominating the agenda. An example of this will be
supporting local trains in their battle over track space with Virgin Trains.
A second campaign will be the reintroduction of passenger and freight trains
through the Black Country linking Kidderminster with Burton and providing services
to Stourbridge, Dudley, Walsall, Brownhills, Lichfield and Fradley.There will
be other issues such as vastly improved bus links, integrated ticketing and timings,
better facilities for the less able and cyclists.
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