Bristol council may swap bendy-bus bid for ultra light rail
BRISTOL City Council should know whether it can swap bendy buses for a light tram system by the autumn.
Ultra Light Rail is essentially a tram that can run on branch rail lines and roads, is environmentally friendly and does not require electrification.
Unlike trams, the tracks can be laid down on road surfaces, which means roads don't have to be dug up to make it work, and overhead electric cables are not needed.
Currently the West of England Partnership – which includes the city council and its three neighbouring local authorities – has government funding bids in for £288 million of bendy bus routes across Bristol.
But, as previously reported in the Evening Post, the city council believes the Coalition Government is keener on ULR than the bendy bus Rapid Transit System and so is considering a switch.
If Bristol introduced urban ULR, it would be the first city in the country to do so, but a small scale operation runs on one rail line in Stourbridge in the West Midlands.
The Parry People Mover runs between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town on a track 1.3km – less than a mile – long.
The service was introduced last year and runs six times an hour, carrying 60 passengers at a time.
The same company built the Bristol Electric Rail Bus, which ran along a stretch of the Harbourside in the early 1990s on a trial basis.
There are two ways the ULR can be powered, either an automotive engine powered by smokeless propane, or by charging up electricity at each station stop.
The cabinet councillor in charge of transport, Gary Hopkins, says the choice between ULR and the bendy bus all comes down to cost and what the Government is prepared to back.
He said: "We're not in a position where we can say we will make the switch, and we would need to speak to our partners in the West of England first.
"I'm aware the government is very much keener on ULR than guided buses.
"There is a re-examination of all the costings by senior civil servants going on at the moment. The previous government favoured guided buses – you could get 90 per cent of it paid for but only 75 per cent of ULR.
"A lot of costs were heaped on the developer with rail, which didn't apply to the buses, so it wasn't a level playing field.
"A decision will be made before the spending review in October whether it becomes more viable to consider.
"We have to keep our options open. We expect a decision within a couple of months."
The three bendy bus route bids are; the £190m north fringe from the city centre to Hengrove; the £50m south Bristol link road that includes a bus route; the £48m scheme from Long Ashton park and ride to Temple Meads.
But with the Department of Transport needing to make £683m of cuts from next year's budget, it is unlikely that all three bids will be successful and the partnership could get nothing.
With that in mind, the councils need to keep other options in mind, and ULR is the one that keeps cropping up.
The ULR cost review means the council cannot say how much such a scheme for Bristol would cost.
In the mean time the partnership – which includes Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset councils – has pushed ahead with preparatory works for the bendy bus routes, despite concerns it is throwing good money after bad.
In June, the city council agreed to spend £170,000 on technical, preparatory work for the Long Ashton route.
Mr Hopkins believes if there is a switch to ULR this won't be money down the drain as some of the work would be transferable.
He said: "It was agreed we had to keep ourselves in the game – if we pulled out the only guarantee was that we get nothing.
"When we passed that at full council we made a commitment to saying this is the way we want to go. If alternate technology comes up we can switch.
"But if they say 'we're going to give you the money for guided buses' am I going to turn them down?"
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by Garie, Bristol
Thursday, August 05 2010, 10:38PM
“Having lived in this pathetic excuse for a city and heard all the promises and lamentable excuses for the last 30 odd years. I feel that anyone suggesting any form of street running rail system is just toying with peoples frustrations. Why is it that other cities :- Birmingham, Croydon , Sheffield ,not to mention the amazing system in Manchester have managed to impliment what people clearly want and the clowns running our 'village' cant give us what we want? People ave very short memories . I remember filling out a qestionaire for the council and the results were 1st on the list was a tram system and 2nd was a 10,000 seater arena ! Guess what.? WE NEED AN ELECTED MAYOR WITH A VISION WHO CAN KICK ASS!!!!!”
by Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity), Somersetshire
Thursday, August 05 2010, 8:57AM
“One day it will dawn on them all that the population does not; never has; and never will ever, travel everywhere they want to go, in groups of 60 all at the same time. . Milk floats have been around since the 1950s. . The Sinclair C5 didn't quite make it, but things have moved on a bit since then.
http://www.milkfloats.org.uk/morrisn4.html
The worlds fastest street legal Electric Car below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=369h-SEBXd8
.”
by snowy, Briz
Thursday, August 05 2010, 8:10AM
“Gerry - "It will not happen, shall I tell you why, SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNCIL"
...at least it won't be at the mercy of Elfan Ap Rees, President of Dibley. That'd guarantee at least five years of bickering and the entire budget wasted on enquiry upon enquiry going in ever decreasing circles.
All that said, nice idea though it may be, I'll believe it when I see it. It's not like we haven't heard it all before.
And I have to agree with Scott - in the unlikely event that it does ever actually see the light of day, PLEASE don't let First get within a mile of it.”
by NIMBY, Everywhere
Thursday, August 05 2010, 7:41AM
“No,no,no,I don't want steele rails in the road,or the noise of trains passing my house,or train stops in my street,anybodys street but mine!!!!!!”
by gerry, bristol
Thursday, August 05 2010, 7:08AM
“It will not happen, shall I tell you why, SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNCIL..”
by Tobius, Afri Can Prince for Bristol Mayor
Wednesday, August 04 2010, 9:43PM
“Hey here's a thing: What Bristol needs is a skilled politician who knows how to play the game in Westminster & Europe. Someone clever at knowing where the money is and how to get it. So, as Peter Mandelson is currently unemployed I'm proposing he be my deputy as Mayor of Bristol. Yes, the charisma & glamour of an African Prince as your mayor with PM as my No,2. My warrior Prince spear will make sure he stays under control don't worry.”
by Scott, Bristol
Wednesday, August 04 2010, 7:57PM
“Whatever they decide, I really do not mind - as long as First Bus do not operate the services. Please Bristol City Council!”
by SteveL, Bristol
Wednesday, August 04 2010, 7:19PM
“Edinburgh's Trams got into trouble because the cost of putting the rails in turned out to be way more than expected. The proposed Ashton gate to centre route has an advantage here, in that the rails are already in place, and we can be reasonably confident nobody has been digging them up and putting utilities underneath. In the city centre, different rules.
Having lived and cycled in cities with trams, you soon learn to avoid them, and here is why they work: nobody parks on a tram line. Here, in the city, any idiot in a van will block a showcase bus route for an hour in the morning. You don't block tram or ULR lines.”
by Mike B, Bristol
Wednesday, August 04 2010, 5:34PM
“:-( . . . It's nonsensical in a City which is trying to encourage more people on bicycles to even consider putting down slippery steel tracks on any part of the Highway, as in areas which do have metal tracks there are frequently injuries, often serious, to cyclists, scooter riders and motorcyclists.
Crossing the tracks becomes lethal when wet, as it's not always possible to cross them at a convenient angle, especially when being "shoved" around by other nearby vehicles, which are bigger and heavier.
Can somebody who is a friend of Gary Hopkins, please tell him to "get real" get on his bicycle and try in in towns where there are frequent tram tracks, then he can write some sensible things, like saying the Tram idea was stupid, from his Hospital Bed ;-)”
by Chris, Bristol,England
Wednesday, August 04 2010, 3:58PM
“ABOUT TIME !
joined up there thinking with common-sense with the rest of us
We the People who have said NO to the Bendy Bus and Yes to light rail and the Railways in general
We have been SHOUTING THIS ! for Decades
Why does it take so long for them to catch up, with reality.”