Business leaders gave a lukewarm response last night to Transport Secretary Alistair Darling's attempt to address concerns over the region's road, rail and air infrastructure problems. About 150 people turned up to quiz Mr Darling at the third The Birmingham Post Get Moving forum held at the Birmingham city centre offices of Wragge & Co, in Colmore Row. Many praised his understanding of the issues facing the region, but were disappointed at his failure to commit to a five-point wish list, including cash to modernise New Street Station. Jerry Blackett, policy director at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of the West Midlands Business Transport Group (WMBTG), urged Mr Darling to take note of the strength of feeling expressed at the meeting. "If nothing else, as he returns to London on the train he must take away that there are not many cities where you get this level of turn-out on this issue," he said. "I hope he will think really seriously about delivering some of our demands." Mr Blackett warned Mr Darling that failure to listen to the region's concerns would come back to haunt the Government in the General Election. "There are votes to be won in Birmingham on transport," he said. "It is the biggest issue we have. He would be foolish not to respond. The big issues haven't gone away. We will wake up tomorrow and New Street will still be a disaster area. The motorways will still be clogged." Mr Blackett said the WMBTG's five priorities were: lExpansion of Birmingham International Airport; lInvestment in the region's motorway infrastructure; lGreater efficiency on local roads; lRedevelopment of New Street Station; lImproved capacity on the railway network. Mr Darling admitted New Street was "not suitable for this city", but he disappointed the business community by refusing to commit to supply extra Government funding. He stressed long term strategies were needed to make up for 20 to 30 years of under-investment in transport. But Roger Boughton, of Willenhall-based MultiServ Logistics, said: "We need solutions to congestion now, not in the long term. We have to plan to the short term." Professor Christopher Nwagboso, from the Midland institute of Transport based at the University of Wolverhampton, called on the Department for Transport to work more closely with the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. "They need to talk to AWM more to find out what the region needs," he said. "There should be a very clear relationship between these departments in order to deliver a response for industry." Others questioned the Government's focus for investment on the railway network when the vast majority of transport in the country was concentrated on the road network. Paul Coxhead, director of Black Country logistics firm Targeted Training Services and a WMBTG member, said: "Rail isn't the solution to all our problems. "In the last ten years rail has virtually reached capacity. There has to be an imbalance when you see they want to invest so heavily in rail. We need more Tarmac." Mr Darling said more money was being pumped into transport, but stressed local authorities needed to do their bit to help. "We are putting more money into the railways. We are putting more money into roads as well as buses and other forms of transport," he said. "But it is important that local authorities work together to deal with the transport problems there are across the region. Investment is absolutely critical, but another part is managing the system better than we have done in the past." Christopher Hughes, a partner at Birmingham law firm Wragge and Co, warned poor train services to London risked the city's reputation as a commercial centre. "There are too many things that seem to go wrong," he said. John James, chairman of South Birmingham College, praised Mr Darling for addressing the city's business community. "I thought he showed a willingness to listen." | 
