IT IS the transport scheme that refuses to go away. Three years after the Merseytram scheme came screeching to a halt when the Department for Transport (DfT) refused to hand over £170m for the project, a fresh bid is being prepared.

Now, however, the Government is being asked to stump up £270m – £100m more than was previously sought.

Revised costs mean that the grand total for building the Liverpool to Kirkby line now stands at £430m. Transport authority Merseytravel has already spent £70m on the scheme, leaving another £360m to be found.

The previous bid was brought down by bitter political in-fighting. Now the support of every council chief executive and leader across Merseyside is being sought to try and make the latest bid a success.

An awful lot has happened in the three years since the last attempt to secure funding for the Merseytram project was made. For example, if Everton FC and Tesco win the public inquiry to go ahead with their £400m development in Kirkby, the case for a tram to the town would be much stronger.

Merseytravel leader Cllr Mark Dowd also believes it could be one of the schemes that the Government uses to build its way out of the current recession, while there is speculation that, if the Greater Manchester congestion charge scheme is rejected, Merseyside could benefit from the re-direction of government money for large public transport schemes.

There are still a great number of “ifs” and “buts” which need to be addressed if this scheme is ever going to become a reality. However, if all Merseyside councils are able to give their unanimous moral support to the scheme – the kind of support which was so noticeably absent last time around– it would give a great deal more impetus to a fresh bid and make it harder for the Government to turn down.