It was recently announced that Metro is £20 million short of the amount needed to pay for the trolleybus scheme (YEP 27.10.12).
Councillor John Procter’s proposed solution to the problem is to scrap the trolleybus scheme and apply to central government for funding from a new £50 billion fund for major infrastructure projects, so that we can build an effective rapid transit system (YEP 12.11.12). This is a much more sensible solution than the one put forward by his colleague, Metro’s chairman Councillor James Lewis. Councillor Lewis proposes plugging the trolleybus funding gap by raising the fares that will be charged on the trolleybuses (YEP 27.10.12). So before the trolleybuses are even running, Metro is planning on raising the fares! It’s time they realised that bus fares are already too high and that this is one of the reasons why the number of people using buses has plummeted.
Bob Jones, City Island, Leeds 12
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