Sixty German cities have trams or light rail systems. That’s true of only seven cities in England.
Our lack of mass transit is making cities outside of London harder to commute in, harder to see friends and family in and less attractive to invest in. In a word, it’s making them poorer.
How do other countries get this right when we don’t? It’s all about where the power to build sits. In England, directly elected mayors have to go cap in hand to Westminster for money and permission to build.
We need to shift to the model they have in countries that get this right, where mayors have the power to approve, fund and build transport projects.
We need to give mayors the power to build.
Leeds needs trams
Leeds is the largest city in Western Europe with no trams or light rail. Here’s a list of places in Europe that are smaller than Leeds but have trams.