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Richard, it won't be under the present governing system.
The State needs people to use petrol in order to collect taxes on fuel. It accounts for a considerable amount of Treasury income.
For this reason the Government won't encourage a conversion to electric public transport.
The only way to find an alternative is by using a different payment method, so that incomes can enter Government Treasuries from traffic, but without depending on fuel consumption.
That way the State could encourage electric public transport, and also the use of rail to transport more freight.
I was on to this, Richard, in my representations to Gov, campaigning for vehicle tolls. It was - and is - the only basic principle to assure Treasury incomes from traffic without depending on fuel.
Add to that the rail link to the Docks.
So you might find one day in the future that someone will come up with the idea again, somewhere else in Britain, and so-by pave the way for a conversion from Treasury dependency on fuel consumption. Promoting transport of freight by rail and a tolling system to substitute fuel tax.
So one day when we have electric lorries too (one day it will happen), and no fuel tax can be levied, and the Treasury receives its alternative traffic income through tolling, you'll remember then how I was opposed in Dover.
It will simply come to fruition somewhere else in Britain first!