Why doesn’t Britain have as many trams as France and Germany? Answer: Cost. We pay roughly twice as much to build a kilometre of track. (And some projects cost a lot more!) Why is it so expensive? One challenge is the cost of moving wires and pipes. Our kit is older, badly mapped, and water/power companies get to pass the cost of utility diversions to the taxpayer when we try to build trams. We also need to move more because we have deeper track-beds. Today, I visited Coventry where they are trying a new approach known as ‘Universal Track’. It only goes 30cm (I.e. a school ruler’s length) deep, unlike existing approaches that go 60-90cm deep. That’s above most utilities in most place. It also uses less concrete. They reckon it’s much cheaper as a result. Potentially half the cost of a normal track. It was originally invented for their smaller ‘Very Light Rail’, but they’ve since learnt it’s strong enough to take full-size trams. They hope to have it commercially available in two years.