With a delay to the horse tram season confirmed, one MHK has suggested ticket prices should be raised in order to raise money.

Lawrie Hooper, MHK for Ramsey, said raising the income from the trams should be considered over raising school bus fares.

In last week’s Manx Independent we revealed the cost of running the island’s heritage rail system, including the steam trains, Manx Electric Railway and horse trams.

The horse trams run at a cost of £411,532 a year and only generate £81,088.

These figures were revealed in the same week that Department of Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer faced questions over his decision to, without warning, raise school bus fares by 10p a journey.

However Mr Hooper took to social media to say: ’The horse trams (subsidised by £300,000 p.a.) generate approx £1 per passenger in income - increasing this to £2 per passenger would generate over £80,000.

’Charging more for an optional/tourist service instead of charging more for an essential school bus is surely a better option?’

However, a hotel owner in Douglas, who didn’t wish to be named, told the Examiner that, aside from TT, their biggest market was heritage transport of which the horse trams form part.

But Mr Hooper has pointed out that a report by transport consultants Systra in 2018 said that given the horse trams ’passenger numbers and limited coverage, its removal would not impact on the total visitor numbers’.

In the House of Keys, Mr Harmer was criticised for saying raising the bus fares was a result of the DoI’s commitment to the SAVE programme.

However, it was pointed out to the minister that increasing fares is not a saving by, amongst others Chris Robertshaw (Douglas East).

He said: ’Something has been lost in translation between the Treasury and the Department of Infrastructure.

’When Treasury came out with the SAVE campaign, it was meant to save money. It was not about finding endless ways of passing costs on to the public and the taxpayer.’

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