As Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group (APPLRG) I recently organised a meeting with Department  for Transport officials on the Tram-Train Trial on the Penistone Line in Yorkshire. Britain's Transport Minister, Paul Clark, agreed to the meeting at a lunch I hosted in Westminster earlier in the year where he was the guest speaker.

As a Light Rail Group we believe tram-trains offer the flexibility to develop truly integrated transport systems. That is now accepted throughout much of Europe - as we saw last year when the APPLRG visited Kassel - so why is it taking so long to be developed here in the UK?

Anyone involved in discussions with the heavy rail industry knows light rail is viewed with a great deal of suspicion. The DfT rightly decided, in my view, to concentrate on the issues of dealing with this end of the trial as the second stage of getting the tram-train on light rail is likely to be much more straightforward.

The trial will have two phases: Phase 1 running from Sheffield to Huddersfield from 2011 to 2013 and Phase 2 extending it to Rotherham and onto the light rail system in Sheffield from 2013 to 2014. Amongst the issues identified that need resolving are train detection, platform heights, wheel rail interface, ride quality and passenger perceptions. The trial will enable a proper estimate of costs to be worked out, what changes to industry standards are needed and how these hybrid vehicles can operate on highly-regulated mainlines to tram lines. Five vehicles are to be purchased and that process alone takes two and a half years!

My colleague Greg Muholland MP raised the issue of the Leeds -Leeds Airport line. Could we not extend the trial to include tram-trains on this line? Sadly, that commitment would have to come from Government Ministers - unlikely in the current financial climate.

During the meeting, concern was expressed at the length of time the whole process was taking and why we cannot use the lessons learned in Germany and the Netherlands for our system. As a nation we have one of the most centralised transport planning systems. What this discussion, though useful, highlighted in a graphic way was just how slow and frustrating this whole process is!