‘Field of Dreams stuff’: will Leeds finally get its trams after decades of promises?

After decades of failed plans, Leeds pins its latest hopes for a modern tram network on a new generation of political will and funding. | Contesto: cronaca

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• ‘Field of Dreams stuff’: will Leeds finally get its trams after decades of promises?

Contesto

LEEDS, England – For over three decades, the dream of a modern tram network has eluded Leeds, a city whose ambitions for mass transit have been repeatedly shelved, redesigned, and cancelled. Now, with a new generation of political leadership and a fresh push for funding, the city is once again asking whether it can finally turn its long-held ‘Field of Dreams’ vision into steel and concrete reality. The question hangs over a transformed city centre and a football club whose fortunes, like the tram plans, have never quite recaptured past glory. The current council leader, James Lewis, has a unique perspective on this history of hope and disappointment. In 1993, as a young man on work experience in the council’s highways department, he rifled through drawers full of large paper plans for the ‘Supertram’ project. At the time, Leeds United FC were the defending English football champions, and the city was marching forward with big ideas, having already discarded an abandoned 1980s Metroline tram proposal and an unloved 1991 concept for a Leeds Advanced Transit skytrain. "I remember these drawers and drawers, full of big paper plans," Lewis recalls, 33 years later. Today, the planning is digital, the city centre has been rebuilt and pedestrianised, but the fundamental desire remains unchanged. Leeds stands as the largest city in western Europe without a mass transit rail system, a fact often cited as a brake on its economic potential and a contributor to chronic congestion. The Supertram project Lewis saw on those plans was approved by parliament in the early 1990s but was ultimately killed by the government in 2005 on grounds of cost. Subsequent proposals for a ‘New Generation Transport’ trolleybus system met a similar fate, rejected after a public inquiry in 2016. This cycle has bred a deep-seated skepticism among many residents, who have heard promises for years and no longer believe the service will ever arrive. The latest effort, often referred to as the ‘Leeds Mass Transit’ plan, seeks to learn from past failures. Proponents argue the case is stronger than ever, driven by urgent demands to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and connect growing...

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Categoria: cronaca