The electric tram could be set for a return to the streets of Palma. Palma city council will make a final decision at the end of the year on whether the Palma - Play de Palma tram track will be built. EMT public transport boss Pedro Alvarez said yesterday that towards the end of the year, the city council will have the completed project with various alternatives to digest and study. Alvarez said that work stated on drawing up the project five months ago with 600.00 euros from the Ministry for Public Works in Madrid. The EMT boss is convinced that the tram would play an important part in the future of Palma. He said that while the tram would help to ease traffic on the roads, it is also an environmentally friendly and reliable form of transport which is being developed and increasingly used in cities across the world. Alvarez also said that the tram link would pass through the proposed site for the new exhibition and conference centre. It is envisaged that the tram system will cover a distance of 15 kilometres and will cost between 150 and 180 million euros to build. To give some idea of the route, Alvarez said that the proposed tram route is very similar to the one covered by the number 15 bus, which every year carries seven million passengers. The public transport sector is confident that, once given the green light, the tram could be up and running within the next four to five years and will greatly help to eleviate the huge volume of traffic between Palma and the Playa de Palma resorts. However, the project is not one the city council can embark on alone and will need help from other local authorities such as the Balearics government and the Insular Council of Majorca along with central government, not only with regards to funding, but also construction. The idea of installing a tram in Palma has been on the drawing board for sometime now and there is support for a link between the airport and the city centre. Once the rail link is extended to Alcudia, for example, people would be able to travel from the airport, all the way to the north east of the island, by rail.
Palma to decide on tram link this year