Officials involved in the Leeds Supertram project are hoping to get Government approval for funding of the tram link this month.
Adrian Pope, Leeds City Council’s Supertram co-ordinator, said that now Croydon and Sheffield had got the go-ahead he hoped that Leeds would be next.
Government approval would ensure the construction of the £100m first stage of what will eventually be a seven mile tram line linking Leeds city centre with the M1 and M62.
The Eurotrans consortium holds the contract to build and operate the line. It comprises Morrison Construction, Cowie (formerly British Bus), Vevey Technologies, Taylor Woodrow, and Christiani Nielson.
Pope said: “If we get the green light this Christmas for Line One then we would hope to have it completed by 2001. We would then start Line Two a couple of years later and Line Three two years after that.”
It is estmated that the entire project will cost a total of £280m with the Government expected to finance around 65% of the final cost. The rest of the money will be generated by developers and businesses set to benefit from the tramlink.
EGi News 04/12/96
