Ex tram Merseytram boss backs revival plan

Oct 22 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

A LEADING member of the private consortium selected to build the aborted Merseytram project last night said it would be “very straight-forward” to get the scheme up and running again.

Mike Flynn, former bid manager, who is currently working on a bid to build a metro in Dublin, said local agencies should “grab any money” being offered by government before it is gobbled up by London’s new Crossrail scheme.

It comes after Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said she was willing to put government money back on the table if an acceptable funding package could be put together locally.

Last night, Liverpool Council’s corporate resources leader Cllr Peter Millea, a Merseytravel member, said it was essential the Government put money into the scheme if it was to go ahead.

It is thought the cost of Line One from Liverpool to Kirkby has risen from the £250m when it was cancelled about two years ago to around £265m.

The Daily Post understands Merseytravel is working up a progressive business case that will be presented to the authority’s board in due course.

It is unclear how much of the £56m already spent on preparatory works will be factored into the new proposals.

Construction costs are thought to have risen, although not dramatically, while the costs of trams have remained pretty much static since the plug was pulled on Merseytram in late 2005.

Ms Kelly has said she is willing to put the £170m originally offered by government, plus interest, in the pot if it can be proved the scheme offers value for money and has the backing of the councils involved.

As the Daily Post revealed last week, one option being looked at to raise money is an additional business tax of up to 2p in the pound, although new legislation would still need to be passed for this to go forward.

The cost benefit ratio of Line One is now thought to stand at 2:1 (£2 of benefit for every £1 spent) – an improvement on when the scheme was scrapped two years ago.

The main factor behind this is the proposal by Everton FC to move their ground from Goodison Park to Kirkby.

Last night, Mr Flynn, who lives in Cheshire, said: “It should be very straight-forward to do it, there’s nothing in the system that is wildly complicated.

“The utilities that were diverted last time are still diverted, the preparatory works are still done.

“Every single piece of planning work has been done and the planning permission is still valid.

“My view as a now independent person is that it is an extremely viable system, one that should never have been stopped in the first place.”

The original plan was to start work and then stop during Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year in 2008.

On Wednesday, the city council passed a motion calling on the Government to treat the country as a level playing field with regards to funding transport schemes after giving the go-ahead to Crossrail.

A letter will now be sent to government to that effect.

Last night, project director of Grosvenor’s Liverpool One project, Rod Holmes, said: “Our position is that it was a very good thing if it had gone ahead, and it was a great pity it did not happen.

“If there’s a real serious possibility of it happening, the odds are that we would support it.”

Merseytravel chairman Cllr Mark Dowd said: “We welcome the fact that the Government are willing to look again at this project.

“We will work with our partners to ensure it comes to fruition.”

davidbartlett