PM says 'let's get on' with building tram network

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is determined a tram network in West Yorkshire "does happen and happens quickly".

The prime minister backed up calls by the region's mayor Tracy Brabin that a planned mass transit system should be in the form of a tram, rather than an improved bus network.

Speaking on a visit to York, he said: "The mayor of West Yorkshire is absolutely passionate about this. She wants a tram and I think that's right, so let's just get on with it now."

Brabin said: "It is always good to have the prime minister on your side by saying 'tram' rather than 'mass transit'."

"That is how you unlock growth, by improving transport. You know mass transit has been under way for a number of years but we are now committed, working with government to deliver that tram network," she said.

"This is part of my Weaver Network, that integrated transport system that is part of bus franchising but also a tram, and bicycles, electric bikes, and I know that government want to work with us to get it delivered at speed."

That speed was slowed down when plans for the tram network were delayed after a government review last year.

According to BBC Yorkshire's transport correspondent Spencer Stokes, West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) had hoped a tram system could be delivered more quickly than is usual in the UK by proceeding with planning the network before it had submitted a business case to secure government funding.

Brabin repeatedly stated she wanted "spades in the ground by 2028", but it is now clear she will have to make the business case first - and also make the economic case for trams instead of a bus-based transport network.

Despite this, Starmer said: "We need to make sure the whole thing is speeded up, it needs to move into real action."

His opinion that the network should include trams echoes that of Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The Labour MP for Leeds West and Pudsey was seen crossing out "mass transport corridor" and writing "tram" on a poster at an event in Leeds last month.

Brabin responded by giving a thumbs up before embracing Reeves in a hug.

She has previously said is confident the trams will be running "by the end of the 2030s".

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