“Reinstating the horse tram tracks along the full length of Douglas Promenade will cost almost £2 million.
The figure has been revealed by the chief engineer of Isle of Man Railways who says it is ‘far from ideal’ that they still do not run between Broadway and the Sea Terminal.
The work was originally due to cost £750,000 before it was ‘descoped’ from the plans to redevelop Douglas Promenade.
The Department of Infrastructure has submitted a business case to Treasury for funding for the work.
It was due to be discussed at the May sitting of the court but it didn't make the deadline for the Register of Business.
That led to concerns from politicians and members of the public that the proposal will be delayed.
Andy Cowie, from the Department of Infrastructure, has told Manx Radio there is ‘no major problem’ with the plan but it needs some ‘relatively quick revisions’ before it can be recommended by Treasury.
He also revealed the work, if it gets the go-ahead, could take 40 weeks to complete and won’t be started until the end of this year’s season.”
Mr Cowie’s comments can be heard in full HERE and are also reproduced as follows:
ANDY COWIE: The Treasury has reviewed the business case in some detail, and they've come back with some quite, quite sensible comments and suggestions for us to look at… relatively quick revisions that we can undertake fairly fast, and that will hopefully give them a little bit more comfort, and they'll be able to recommend the business case, and it can be presented to Tynwald for a final decision.
ALEX BRINDLEY: From an operational point of view. How frustrating is it for you, the fact that they are sitting there half-finished?
ANDY COWIE: It's far from ideal. Clearly, we would like as a division and department. We would like the horse trams to provide the full service. And completing the track to the sea terminal will open up quite a number of different markets as well that we're struggling to fulfil at the moment, despite the increasing passenger numbers, which are really quite, quite strong on the horse trams. We're up to 55,000 passenger trips last year, which is a 10% increase on the previous year, which was good. Completing that track will open up cruise ship visitors, which was probably our major driver, and that will increase passenger numbers significantly and provide a much better experience for our cruise ship passengers.
So, the ability to get off your ship or your tender and hop onto a quite unique piece of heritage transport and trundle down the beautiful promenade in Douglas, possibly to get on the MER, is a really attractive opposition proposition, and we know it would be very popular with the increasing number of cruise ship passengers. So, we're quite confident it will have a big impact on our operational performance.
ALEX BRINDLEY: In terms of the completion of the horse trams. The figure in terms of time that's been bandied around is 40 weeks. I know full well from … laying small levels of track to laying [at Groudle] from seeing some of the relays…what is going to take so long for 40 weeks for tram trucks, because most people you speak to scoff at that.
ANDY COWIE: Well, they might scoff at it, but fundamentally it is still at 1.8km of track and a number of sets of points and control mechanisms and quite a bit of surface finishing as well, which is not a quick process. It's not the same as throwing a bit of track out in the middle of the countryside. You have to take a lot more care operating in the centre of Douglas, frankly, with public impacts. That is very much our worst-case timeline anyway. We do have some ideas how we might improve that, either by paralleling up with multiple contractors or some slightly clever design solutions.
But until they're actually firm, we've gone with the sort of worst-case proposal.
ALEX BRINDLEY: When could you actually make a start?
ANDY COWIE: We'd be unlikely to be able to make a start until the tail end of the season, in probably around September. There are some long lead-time items, like points, for example, which you can't get off the shelf, the custom gauge, and they would have to be sourced through the proper procurement channels, which does take some time and delivered, and we'd be in a queue for many other towns and cities and systems around the UK who are busy expanding their rail networks.
ALEX BRINDLEY: What is the figure? What sort of ballpark are we talking money-wise to finish this off? Because we know that it was ‘descoped’. It was originally… we go round and round in circles… The arguments that, you know, the department was given the money. I know the Prom project wasn't anything to do with you. The department was given the money, it was ‘descoped’. There are all the political shenanigans and the cloak and mirrors as to where the money went. But of course, it's going to now be costing more than it originally did because prices have gone up. Are you able to reveal some sort of figure?
ANDY COWIE: As a ballpark? The figure of the business case was less than £2m. To put that in context, the original cost, I think, for the project was about 750 K, and as you quite rightly said, the world has moved on significantly since the prom project was planned. Costs have gone up substantially in a number of areas, particularly the likes of steel and concrete and labour. We also have to do a little bit more work because the surface has been laid. We now have to dig that back up again, which obviously adds an extra cost and relay the top as well.