Merseytram (Plan B) ....Birk 'n' ed

[185]

TRANSPORT experts will investigate plans to create a tram system around the proposed £4.5bn Wirral Waters skyscraper scheme.

Merseytravel voted to instruct consultants to look into the costs of the project, which would also involve taking over Wirral council’s heritage tramway in Birkenhead.

The council is currently trying to offload the tramway and wanted bids for it by next week.

But councillors at Merseytravel said they did not have enough information to sanction a bid for the tramway, which requires a subsidy of £250,000-a-year.

Well Neil Scales, boss of Merseytravel is still in the country for a few months before he disappears abroad to his new job. Could this be his final desperate attempt to get passenger trams on the streets of Merseyside? He took a lot of flack last time for the pile of money thrown at the last scheme that never was.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...-look-into-wirral-tram-plans-100252-30231667/

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Highly unlikely (even though the abandoned track to the Egerton Bridge is half way to where it needs to go). It has always been the policy to build first then ponder for decades about infrastructure afterwards in this country and that is hardly likely to change now.

 

[WatcherZero]

Been going on for a while...

http://www.wirralnews.co.uk/wirral-...irkenhead-theatre-and-tramway-80491-28148553/

Merseytravel even bought some heritage trams to operate on it before deciding against purchasing the tramway, it came down to legal qualification. They wanted to buy the tramway as a cheap way of becoming an accredited operator so they could expand the existing without having to start from scratch becoming a qualified public service operator, then they discovered their insurance wouldnt cover and they would have to hire outside experts. The other major problem is Wirral Council only has one electritician qualifed to to sign off the maintainence work of the system and he was due to retire so it would have cost £40k to replace him.