Efficient transport systems a must

Sep 30 2003 By Bill Midgley, The Journal

By any yardstick the Great North Run weekend was a tremendous advertisement for the region, highlighting yet again the delights of the North-East.

And hopefully many of those who visited for the first time will wish to come back, perhaps some at a more leisurely pace.

However, there is a but, and unfortunately there always seems to be a "but" in what we set out to achieve.

A queue for two and a half hours at South Shields Metro station to try to return to Newcastle left many people, particularly from the South-East, somewhat jaundiced about our ability to move people speedily and efficiently.

A position that was not helped by the apparent weekend timetable of the Tyne ferry, which again had severe bottlenecks and created inordinate and unacceptable delays.

The ability to move people is important in attracting a whole host of events to the region, not least in our push to bring conferences and other major events, not only to Tyneside but to the wider North-East.

I am aware that as a nation we seem to have an apparent unwillingness to grapple with the problem of mass movement of individuals, but comparing ourselves with the South-East is simply not good enough. We have to be better than they are.

It was perhaps coincidental that the proposed new transport scheme was unveiled in the week following the run, and certainly at first sight it looks extremely impressive.

We are looking, however, at a scheme that will take at least 20 years to come to fruition, and that is assuming (and it has to be a very large assumption) that funding of the order of £1.5bn will be avail- able.

There are many schemes in this region that have never left the drawing board, or are never fully completed, and those who have been around long enough to remember the ambitious plans for the Brasilia of the North will be only too well aware of the high price that was subsequently paid by the city centre of Newcastle.

I do hope that the scheme sees the light of day.

But I also wonder what consultation there has been with the business community.

Is this yet another example of the various authorities talking at business rather than talking with?

There are far too many occasions on which there is an assumption that business will do as it is told, or will have to put up with that which it is given, but the needs of the business community (whether they be in terms of transport of people or goods) have to be part of any long term plan.