West London Tram

File:George Street East, Croydon - geograph.org.uk - 823399.jpg in Croydon in October 1999]]

File:First London articulated bus Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro G in Shepherds Bush Bus Station, London 27 March 2009.jpg, originally intended as the eastern tram terminus]]

The revival of interest in tramways and light rail transit systems around the start of the 21st century led to the re-introduction of electric trams to a number of British cities and towns such as Manchester, Sheffield, and Croydon. The West London Tram scheme was first announced in 2002 by the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, along with other projects such as the Cross River Tram and the Thames Gateway Transit bus rapid transit scheme.{{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=1135 |title=Mayor says yes to new trams and busways|date=29 May 2002|publisher=Mayor of London/Greater London Authority|access-date=19 February 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030418014756/http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=1135 |archive-date = 18 April 2003}}

Livingstone promoted the project as a solution to traffic congestion problems in the west of London. It was forecast that the tramway would carry 50 million passengers a year and, based on research of Croydon Tramlink, promoters anticipated around 19% of those passengers would switch from using a car to the tram for their journey. The scheme was budgeted at a cost of approximately £200 million, and the line would come into service by 2009.

The tram was designed to run along the congested Uxbridge Road from Uxbridge to Shepherd's Bush and replace the heavily used 207, 427 and 607 bus routes. Had the route been constructed it would have revived a tram route established in 1904 and which was replaced by a trolleybus route 607 which was itself superseded by the present bus routes.{{cite book|last=Webber|first=Mick |title=London Trolleybus Chronology 1931-1962 |year=1997 |location=Shepperton|publisher=Ian Allan|isbn=0-7110-2528-2}}{{cite book|last=Blacker|first=Ken|title=The London Trolleybus. Volume 2: 1946–1962|year=2004|location=Harrow|publisher=Capital Transport|isbn=978-1-85414-285-6}}

The trams were to run on a completely on-street route, with a mixture of stretches shared with road traffic, "accessible" routes (controlled lanes which road traffic would be permitted to enter temporarily, for example to avoid an obstruction), and segregated stretches of track which would be for tram use only, mostly along the central reservation of the Uxbridge Road. The tram was partly envisaged as a "feeder" service for other modes of transit, transporting passengers to interchange points with London Underground, London Overground and the future Crossrail service.{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/wlt_Draft-05-Information-Sheet-No-2-Description-of-the-scheme.pdf|title=Information Sheet 2: Description of the scheme|date=November 2005|publisher=Transport for London|access-date=19 February 2010}}

The West London Tram scheme proved to be a contentious proposal, with public opinion along the route more or less divided on the issue. Several consultation exercises and opinion polls reported contradictory results of narrow majorities both for and against the tram.

The scheme was opposed by the local councils of the boroughs along the intended tramway route: Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hillingdon. Ealing council had initially supported the project, but following a change of council after the local elections, the new ruling Conservative Party council voted against the tramway.{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/766287.no_more_council_support_for_tram/|title=Tram loses all council support|last=Smit|first=Martina |date=19 May 2006|publisher=This Is Local London|access-date=20 February 2010}}

Ealing was also a focus of public campaigning against the tram, where opposition was strongest. A local pressure group, Save Ealing's Streets, launched a campaign in 2004 against the construction of the tramway through Ealing and along the A40 corridor. The group voiced concerns that there were a number of "pinch points" (sections of road not wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic and two tram lanes) along the Uxbridge Road which would create major congestion problems and divert a significant amount of traffic through residential areas. They also took the view that the reduction in traffic resulting from the tram would not be as high as that claimed by TfL, citing TfL's own impact studies of Croydon Tramlink. The Croydon system, the group noted, runs mostly on converted railway lines with only a short section of on-street track, and traffic displacement was managed by the construction of a new bypass; the West London Tram, by contrast, would run entirely along a highway which is hemmed in by narrow residential streets, with no scope for additional road construction.{{cite web|url=http://www.ealingstreets.org/ses_background.htm|title=A background brief|year=2004|publisher=Save Ealing's Streets (campaign group)|access-date=20 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040207043118/http://www.ealingstreets.org/ses_background.htm |archive-date=7 February 2004}}

The Mayor of London commissioned a public consultation in 2004 to gauge public opinion about the project and make revisions to the plans. 440,000 consultation brochures were circulated and nearly 17,000 questionnaires completed. The results of the exercise, published in March 2005, showed that, while 54% of respondents felt there was need to reduce congestion improve public transport and on the Uxbridge Road, 59 per cent were opposed to the tramway scheme. Opponents expressed concerns about the cost of the project and an anticipated increase in traffic congestion, particularly on residential side roads.{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/WLT_consultation_summary_brochure_FINAL.pdf|title=West London Tram Public consultation results - Summary brochure|date=April 2005|publisher=Transport for London|access-date=19 February 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4308321.stm|title=Majority say 'no' to tram scheme |date=1 March 2005|publisher=BBC News|access-date=20 February 2010}}

The consultation - the largest ever held by Transport for London - was reportedly dismissed by Mayor Ken Livingstone as "unscientific", who instead cited a separate poll of 1,100 west Londoners which claimed a 54% backing for the tram.{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-16960210-livingstone-rejects-tram-protest-vote.do|title=Livingstone rejects tram protest vote |last=Lydall|first=Ross |date=1 March 2005|publisher=London Evening Standard|access-date=20 February 2010}} Another 2004 poll of 1,800 people, commissioned from ORC by the Greater London Authority, claimed 56% support for the tram.{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/503788.majority_support_for_west_london_tram_poll/|title=Majority support for West London tram - poll|date=25 June 2004|publisher=This is Local London|access-date=20 February 2010}}

TfL commissioned market a research programme from Ipsos MORI, who conducted 1,860 telephone interviews with residents of west London during June 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/October-2006.pdf|title=The West London Tram Scheme Final Report|date=October 2006|work=Research Study Conducted for Transport for London|publisher=Ipsos MORI|access-date=20 February 2010}} The results found that opinion was divided, with 40% supporting the tram scheme while 44% were opposed. A further 14% were impartial. Supporters of the scheme saw the trams as an environmentally friendly and more rapid transport solution than buses, and thought that it would reduce traffic congestion. Opponents mostly expressed the view that the tram line would increase traffic congestion as the roads were not wide enough to accommodate existing traffic and trams, and that traffic would be displaced into side roads, as well as concerns over the disruption caused by tramway construction. While a majority of residents thought that trams were environmentally friendly, a majority believed that trams take up too much space on the road. Most interviewees felt that reducing congestion on the Uxbridge Road was important, an improved bus service was favoured by many.

The West London Tram project was postponed indefinitely by TfL in August 2007. The decision followed the announcement that central government was to go ahead with the Crossrail project. Opponents of the tramway were critical of the fact that £30 million had already been spent on the project before its cancellation.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6930000/newsid_6930000/6930032.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&bbcws=1|title=Plans for tram link scrapped|date=3 August 2007|publisher=BBC News|access-date=19 February 2010}}

TfL have pledged to work with the local boroughs to increase bus provision instead, including interchanges with the future Crossrail stations. TfL have said the tram scheme may be revisited however if further public transport capacity is needed after Crossrail is up and running.{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/networkandservices/3223.aspx |title=West London Tram|date=10 April 2008 |publisher=Transport for London (archived page)|access-date=19 February 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080410070044/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/networkandservices/3223.aspx |archive-date = 10 April 2008}}

Although there was strong opposition to the West London Tram scheme, most subjects expressed the view that congestion on the Uxbridge Road corridor was a major problem and thought that improvements to the existing bus services would be desirable.

Various transport systems have been proposed as an alternative.

• Campaigning group Trolley Buses for West London advocated the introduction of trolleybuses (cabled buses); while such a system would deliver the environmental benefits of electric traction vehicles running on rubber tyres would be quieter, more flexible in congestion, and not entail the maintenance of track nor its laying.{{cite web|url=http://www.tfwl.org.uk/issues.html|title=The Issues|publisher=Trolleybuses for West London|access-date=20 February 2010}}

• Alternative thinkers suggest a monorail. For comparison, in 2003, a proposal was considered by Hounslow London Borough Council to construct a {{convert|21|km|adj=on}} elevated monorail strong-piered above the A4 route from Hammersmith to Heathrow Airport. This was rejected by TfL.{{cite web|url=http://democraticservices.hounslow.gov.uk/%28S%28irf22vruys54uxfbzviohoyo%29%29/Published/C00000233/M00001393/AI00005773/$CACM121103A4LRTMonorail.docA.ps.pdf |title=A4 Corridor – Monorail |date=12 November 2003 |publisher=London Borough of Hounslow |access-date=20 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814121621/http://democraticservices.hounslow.gov.uk/(S(irf22vruys54uxfbzviohoyo))/Published/C00000233/M00001393/AI00005773/$CACM121103A4LRTMonorail.docA.ps.pdf |archive-date=14 August 2011 }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/networkandservices/3223.aspx Transport for London - West London Tram]: official site for scheme (site defunct; archived page)
• {{Alwaystouchout|26}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040206165713/http://www.ealingstreets.org/ Save Ealing's Streets]: anti-tram campaign (site defunct; archived page)
• [http://www.wlfoet5.demon.co.uk/transport/trams/wltram.htm West London Friends of the Earth - West London Tram] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625082458/http://www.wlfoet5.demon.co.uk/transport/trams/wltram.htm |date=25 June 2006 }}: pro-tram campaign
• [http://www.tfwl.org.uk/index.html Trolley Buses for West London] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718221921/http://www.tfwl.org.uk/index.html |date=18 July 2009 }}: pro- trolley buses.
• [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2004/07/07/Ken2016.pdf Map showing West London Transit on London Underground map]

{{UK light rail}}

Category:Abandoned light rail projects in the United Kingdom

Category:Proposed rail infrastructure in London

Category:Trams in London

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Ealing

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Hillingdon