Leicester’s Tories have drawn up proposals for a 40 stop tram network they want to build across Leicester.
Conservative activists believe a tram system, like Nottingham’s or Manchester’s, would be the solution to Leicester’s heavy traffic congestion.
They want to create just over nine miles of tram line, some along roads and some off-road, through the city which they estimate will cost nearly £500 million and would also connect to key sites outside Leicester’s boundaries.
Labour city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby rubbished the idea saying it was simply not feasible to successfully set up a tram system in Leicester.
However Leicester Conservatives chairman Jack Hickey has insisted it is ‘doable’ and has provided LeicestershireLive with a map of proposed tram routes which he says would be developed should the Tories win control of Leicester City Council in May’s upcoming election.
Although there is no funding in place for any mass transit scheme for the city Mr Hickey said work on developing it would begin within six months of a Tory election victory and would be largely complete within four years.
What are the Conservatives planning?
The Tory plan sets out two phases of the scheme.
A ‘West’ phase with 14 stops would begin at the Enderby park and ride and go under Soar Valley Way to Fosse Park then head up to the east of Narborough Road, on the edge of Aylestone Meadows, along the Great Central Way and to the De Montfort University campus.
It would then run up towards St Nicholas’ Circle and up the old Leicester to Swannington rail towards Glenfield where it would join the A50 Groby Road and carry on to stops at the Glenfield Hospital and County Hall before swinging east to a terminal at Beaumont Leys shopping centre.
Mr Hickey said a second phase of the tram network would serve the city centre and the eastern side of Leicester.
He said it would be built after the completion of the West phase.
He described the ‘East’ phase plans as ‘conceptual rather than definitive’ at this stage.
There would be a terminal at Jubilee Square in the city centre and from there the tram could run down High Street to a stop by The Clock Tower.
The Tory plan says the trams would then run up to the Haymarket bus station via Charles Street,
They would also run down to the railway station on London Road while heading to the Cultural Quarter before looping back round down Humberstone Gate East and back to the Clock Tower.
Mr Hickey said the ram would run from the city centre to the Golden Mile and onwards towards Thurmaston.
From the city centre the tram would head south ‘via a number of possible routes’ to the University of Leicester to Clarendon Park and Knighton before running up to Oadby.
A loop following the eastern part of the outer ring road with nine stops would also be included.
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He said there was potential extend the tram network to connect to Birstall to the north and southwards 14 miles all the way to Market Harborough in the future.
Mr Hickey insisted there would not be too much disruption to build a 25 foot wide tramway on the proposed routes in the city.
He said: “It is estimated that only around one-third of the entire network is on-road, while two-thirds is either alongside existing road, or off-road.
He said he had discussed the idea with transport secretary Chris Grayling and acknowledged the scheme would be dependant on Government money.
He said: “This is doable. We have to be ambitious about how we travel in the city. The tram is the answer.”
LeicestershireLive asked Mr Hickey exactly how many passengers his tram network would need to carry in order to be economically viable.
He said Nottingham’s Tram was used to make 17.8 million journeys in 2017/18 but that Leicester's tram might not need that many
'An absolutely daft idea'
Sir Peter dismissed the Tory tram plan as ‘absolutely daft’.
He said: “A tram system will not work in a city as compact as Leicester.
“Numerous professional studies have concluded it would not work and the Tories scribbling some lines on a map does nothing to change that.
“Their plan would also leave large sections of the city unserved.
“A tram would be a vast drain on public finances for years.
“It’s an absolutely daft idea.”
