Southampton City Council have revealed early plans for historic trams to return to the streets of the city between the Old Town and the waterfront. Leisure bosses at the Council have joined forces with engineering experts at the University of Southampton to see if existing tracks could be used again for a heritage tram operation as a great offering for visitors.
Cllr John Hannides, Cabinet member for leisure, heritage and culture, said: “We are taking this one step at a time and the first step needs to be a feasibility study. Once we know what the threats are and the opportunities may be, it will give us the information we need to decide how to take it forward. These type of projects can be very expensive, which is why we are focusing our ambition on having a heritage tramway, rather than it being part of the city’s transport infrastructure.”
It is planned that final year and Master’s engineering students from the University will investigate the cost of the project and whether existing tracks along the waterfront could be used. Around five students will be involved and they should report their findings to the Council in spring 2010.
The article in the Daily Echo suggests that Southampton 11 would be used to operate the line. This is one of three trams under the auspices of the Tram 57 Project and is currently stored at an unknown location. 11 has been restored cosmetically (photo of the tram here - scroll to the bottom of the page) but is not thought to be in operational condition. The Tram 57 Project are also involved in a project for an operational tramway at the Amberley Working Museum in Sussex.
Source: Daily Echo