A recent report to Hertfordshire County Council’s Infrastructure Panel (GIPE) appeared to raise the possibility of a Abbey Line busway which we covered here. The officers’ report stated:
The Implementation Plan will need to include reference to the role of the Abbey Line, particularly given the interest in those keen to see the conversion to MRT. It is very unlikely that a solution involving steel wheels on rails will be financially feasible and the solution is likely to involve permutations of dedicated route construction, repurposing of existing highway, necessitating rubber tyred rolling stock.
Abfly submitted a strong rebuttal case to local councillors on that panel, as a result of which, the chair of the panel made the following statement:
Derrick Ashley opened the meeting by giving a statement that there are no plans to convert the Abbey Line into a bus way, just that it should be integrated into whatever solution is decided upon for the east-west MRT
We are grateful to county councillors Sue Featherstone (Conservative), Asif Khan (Labour) and Sandy Walkington (Lib Dem) for taking up the case and Derek Ashley for making such a clear statement on the matter.