Leaders back new bid for Merseytram cash

08 May 2008

A group of the Northwest’s leading businessmen and politicians have come out openly in support of a renewed bid for government funding of Merseytram.

In a joint letter to a Liverpool newspaper, they said they welcomed transport secretary Ruth Kelly’s invitation to Merseytravel to re-bid for funding of the proposed Line One link between Liverpool and Kirby.

They said they believed the tram network would be ‘enormously beneficial’ to Merseyside’s economy, and help it develop an image for the 21st century. Among signatories were John Whittaker, chair of Peel Holdings, and Dr Charles Roberts, of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Merseytravel said it intended to submit a new business plan to the Government by the year’s end.

The transport minister gave new hope that the Government would help fund Merseytram after meetings last month with Merseyside MPs Louise Ellman and George Howarth, whose constituencies are at either end of the proposed Line One.

The Government previously refused £170M funding for Line One, claiming costs had spiralled. In 2005, when it was scrapped, it was projected to cost £316M.

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Leaders back new bid for Merseytram cash

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