Birmingham Transport Infrastructure Falls Behind French Twin City Lyon
Campaign group Britain Remade is calling for the West Midlands mayor to receive enhanced powers to plan and deliver local transport systems following new research that reveals Birmingham is significantly lagging behind its French twin city Lyon. The organization has specifically urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to grant England's metro mayors the authority to independently approve, finance, and deliver major transport infrastructure projects.
Stark Disparity in Transport Investment Revealed
The group conducted a comprehensive comparison between Birmingham and the West Midlands Combined Authority area with Lyon and its surrounding metropolitan region in France. The analysis uncovered a striking disparity in transport investment and development between the two urban centers. Despite having a substantially smaller population than the West Midlands area—approximately 2.3 million residents compared to just over 3 million—the French region has successfully constructed a considerably larger and more heavily utilized mass transit network.
The West Midlands Metro currently comprises only 15 miles of tram track serving 33 stations, while Lyon boasts an impressive 66 miles of underground track and 150 stations. This dramatic difference in infrastructure scale directly impacts how commuters utilize each transport network. Lyon's metro system carries approximately 260 million passengers annually, which equates to roughly 111 journeys per person each year. In stark contrast, the West Midlands tram serves just 9 million passengers annually, representing fewer than 3 trips per person per year.
Centralized Power Structure Hindering Progress
Britain Remade, which campaigns for faster, simpler, and more cost-effective delivery of infrastructure required to drive economic growth across the country, argues the reason behind this substantial gap is straightforward. Mayors in cities such as Lyon hold significant power to plan and deliver transport systems locally, while their English counterparts operate under much more restrictive conditions. Instead of having autonomous authority, figures such as West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker must await Westminster's approval before significant transport schemes can progress.
This centralized approach to infrastructure planning and funding is among the primary reasons Britain has found it difficult to construct the clean, efficient transport networks that contemporary cities require to thrive economically and environmentally. The current system creates bureaucratic delays and reduces local responsiveness to transport needs that directly affect regional development and quality of life for residents.
Legislative Opportunity for Change
However, legislation currently making its way through Parliament presents a genuine opportunity to alter this dynamic. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill could be modified to grant all fourteen of England's directly elected mayors the authority to independently approve, finance, and deliver transport infrastructure projects. Britain Remade has launched a petition advocating for precisely this legislative change, arguing that local leaders possess superior understanding of regional transport requirements than distant officials in Whitehall.
Sam Richards, founder of Britain Remade, commented extensively on the issue, stating: "Cities like Lyon trust their local leaders to build the transport systems their economies need. But in England, mayors still have to go cap in hand to the Treasury and the Department for Transport before anything major can get built. That's one reason cities like Birmingham are falling behind comparable places in Europe. Directly elected mayors know what their areas need far better than officials in Whitehall."
Richards continued with a direct appeal to government leadership: "If the government wants cities like Birmingham to compete with the best in Europe, it needs to trust local leaders to get on and build. The Prime Minister should use this bill going through Parliament to give mayors the power to approve, fund, and deliver the transport projects their regions need. Only then will local leaders be able to unleash the full potential of their regions."
The campaign highlights a growing consensus among urban policy experts that decentralized decision-making represents a crucial step toward improving Britain's transport infrastructure. As cities across Europe continue to develop advanced public transit networks, the pressure mounts for English cities to receive similar autonomy to plan and implement transport solutions that meet their specific demographic and economic needs.
