Before the planned return of the horse trams in late July, rust must be removed from the rail lines on Douglas Promenade.

The work shouldn’t disrupt traffic or delay the return of the horse trams running and is being undertaken by Vossloh, a company that specialises in railway maintenance.

A team from the company, which is based in the UK, will arrive in the island on Friday, July 15, to start work on the removal of rust and pitting on the rails, with them expected to have completed the work no later than Tuesday, July 26.

The horse trams were taken out of service three years ago to allow for a refurbishment of the promenade, including the laying out of the new £1.2 million tracks.

Previous infrastructure minister Tim Crookall had warned a reopening of the trams this year was doubtful, however current minister Chris Thomas wants to see a return of the trams in late July.

Keith Podmore, contract project manager for Douglas promenade refurbishment scheme, said the work to remove rust from the rail lines would make the experience on the trams ‘more pleasant’.

He said: ‘The tram lines as they stand have a little bit of rust on them, so the grinding work will go and smooth them out.

‘The reason for doing it is to actually improve the noise levels so it will make the tram running noise a lot quieter, so it’s more pleasant for the occupants of the tram.

‘Traffic both north- and south-bound will remain unaffected as the work will be taking place within the pink concrete.’

The team at Vossloh, who are expected to be on island for no more than 11 days, are being brought over because ‘there is no Manx company that can do it, because it’s specialist work’ said Mr Podmore.

When asked who is funding the work and the team from Vossloh coming to the island, Mr Podmore said the work was always planned and is part of the current contract.