The Department of Infrastructure is aiming to bring its revised horse tramway funding proposal before the June sitting of Tynwald, after it missed the deadline to bring it to the May sitting of the court.

During questions in the House of Keys on Tuesday, Treasury Minister Chris Thomas confirmed that a capital funding request for the Douglas horse tramway extension was submitted by the DOI at the end of March.

However, as well as missing the deadline for May’s Tynwald sitting, the opportunity to discuss it at a Treasury board meeting on Wednesday (May 13) was also in doubt after the DOI did not submit the relevant documentation.

Mr Thomas said Treasury was still awaiting additional project documentation, including detailed design and feasibility assessments, before any final recommendation could be made.

‘Treasury and the DOI have been working on this proposal to finalise the actual costs and the consenting processes,’ he added.

‘The design, contingency and the technical design are all being tested.’

Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall later confirmed that his department was revising the business case following what he described as ‘constructive feedback’ from Treasury and the Council of Ministers.

Mr Crookall added that the DOI intended to resubmit the updated proposal this week, with the aim of securing approval for a financial motion to be brought before June’s Tynwald sitting.

He acknowledged the tight timetable but said the department hoped the motion could still be included, potentially as a late item if necessary.

‘We are doing our best,’ Mr Crookall said. ‘We have responded to the feedback so we can resubmit the business case and bring it forward at the second attempt.

‘If honourable members think they’d need a business case briefing on it [prior to the June Tynwald sitting], I’d be happy to do that.’

Horse trams last ran to the Sea Terminal in 2018 before services were suspended during the £26m Douglas Promenade reconstruction scheme.

Services resumed in 2022 on a shortened route operating only between Derby Castle and Broadway.

Heritage railways’ chief engineer Andy Cowie recently revealed to Manx Radio that the business case to reinstate the tramway along the full length of the promenade has put the cost at ‘less than £2m’.

He said work to return the track to the Sea Terminal could begin in September and take around 40 weeks to complete.

He told the radio station: ‘The figure in the business case was less than £2m.

‘To put that in context, the original cost was about £750,000, but the world has moved on significantly since the Prom project was planned.

‘Costs have gone up substantially in a number of areas, particularly steel, concrete and labour.

‘We also have to do a little bit more work because the surface has been laid. We now have to take that back up again, which obviously adds an extra cost.’

Mr Cowie added it was ‘far from ideal’ that the tramway currently only operated along half its original route and restoring the line to the Sea Terminal would ‘open up quite a number of different markets’.