Bristol's £100m Metro rail bid for Government cash

“#Katachua - thank you. It is Sir, although "Mate" will do. "Your Worship"? Never. I got the vision, but not the experience, ability, or desire. Time for someone clever to put his nuts in the cracker, or her whatevers in whatever the appropriate metaphor is for ladies. I cannot see the sense in trying to convince the council. Easier to just sideline them, or vote them out. There is a polarisation in this city. The Lib Dem strongholds are not where these schemes will be, but in the SPOOLA belt *. The people who will not have somewhere to park the car, or find their quiet road converted to a BRT route, or their business CPO'd and demolished do not live where the decisions are made. Time for a change.

#Green_Man - so true. Hotwell Road and Hartcliffe Way without buses will be too much of a temptation.

#Kromax - Thank you for those kind words. I don't usually speak sense, so savour the moment while it lasts. I agree with you about using this issue as the testbed for mayoral elections, and look forward to the Hustings, for the first time in my life.

*Stripped Pine, Olive Oil, Laura Ashley. A bit dated now, but still a handy label.”

“Nymptony you speak so much sense.

The first candidate for mayor that says they will bring light rail and ditch bendy buses must surely win.”

“Mr Kent is arguing for extra money for the City.

Good to see him standing up for Bristol and unafraid to ruffle a few feathers if need be.”

“@ Nymptony - "I haven't found anything about a bus powered PURELY by biomethane - the only models available now are dual fuelled, using diesel for part of the time. "

Even if you could and even if you could go much better and have zero emission buses the increase in trafiic that is forescast - and is going to be further encouraged by building new roads locally - is likley to more than cancel out any carbon emissions and air pollution benefits.”

“@Nymptony

Well said, sir or madam. Now all you have to do is to persuade the Lie Dems to listen. I sincerely wish you luck.”

“My earlier impassioned rant strayed into the personal, for which I apologise. I also should not have said that I was not going to go by party labels, then gone to imply criticism of a particular party. I remain open to persuasion by anyone, and will take transport as the main issue to measure this by.

I will always think that the BRT is ill-founded, and won't help one jot, not even if it's powered by natural yoghurt. I haven't found anything about a bus powered PURELY by biomethane - the only models available now are dual fuelled, using diesel for part of the time. I thought also that the BRT route was intended to be available to existing bus services from the outer reaches. Will the bus companies therefore have to invest in a brand new fleet to be able to join in? Take the example of the Portishead buses. Will any bus company want to spend a fortune on untested technology to be able to use the BRT lanes from Ashton Vale, in the knowledge that the Portishead rail line will reopen soon, depriving them of a lot of their passengers or driving fares doown? Or will Bristol CC go ahead with the enormous expenses of BRT, deprive most bus companies of permission to use it, then lose enthusiasm for reopening the rail link? If so, this will become the most expensive park-and-ride shuttle service ever, leading to a car park that may also lose a lot of custom on the day that the first train to Bristol pulls out of Portishead.

There is a much better fuel for inner city transport, even less polluting than methane - electricity! The dirtiest coal power station is more efficient and cleaner than the cleanest internal combustion engine, and power can be generated by any fuel. Once the folly of wind turbines has finally been accepted by the government, we will be able to get on with research into efficient renewable sources. Meantime, the best option is to leave the rails where they are and use a 750V DC cable to drive trams. The advantage is firstly that it will be popular. A short on-street section to the centre is certainly not as impossible as the council choose to make it sound. It can be built in such a way as to enable a future connection to the Portishead line, should the tram-train trials in Yorkshire prove as successful as the services in Germany, France, and Spain suggest. It will prove cheaper in the long run. In 15 years' time, when the buses have been replaced 2 or 3 times, or look tired and old fashioned, the trams will be due for their first refurbishment.

We may yet see another problem. BRT does not have the whole of the council behind it, let alone the people who live and work in Bristol. By the time the BRT starts construction, we will have had at least one council election, and will have a mayor. It is not inconceivable that the city will then be under the control of of an administration implacably opposed to it. So, they may be saddled with a white elephant, with no money to put it right. The proponents of the scheme will be out of office, and able to snipe from the sidelines, then everybody will be blaming everybody else.

By carrying on with this short-term madness, we are depriving a proud city of the chance to do something bold and brave, that will put us on the map, not the front cover of the Beano.”

“Whatever mate.

You will always be a troll.”

“@Kbillies, your command of the English language is about as accurate as your opinion of your LibDem chums is valid!”

“Any right minded person despises DM Fishponds.”

“KBillies - "That's Gary Hopkins. A redoubtable man indeed."


re·doubt·a·ble/riˈdoutəbəl/Adjective: (of a person) Formidable, esp. as an opponent: "a redoubtable debater".

Synonyms: redoubted - formidable - dreadful - terrible - awful - frightful - ghastly - scary”