An additional £2.2 million of emergency funding for light rail in Scotland will help operators plan ahead with renewed confidence.
Welcoming this week’s announcement of further support from the Scottish Government, UKTram also says the latest tranche of funding will continue to protect essential services from the on-going financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
George Lowder, Chair of UKTram and Chief Executive of Transport for Edinburgh, commented: “The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on travel demand, and clearly it will be some time before we see customer numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels.”
The latest emergency funding, which follows ongoing discussions with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Edinburgh Trams, brings the total light rail support available to over £36 million, and this will now be in place until the end of March 2022.
“This gives us a degree of security through the uncertainty of continued Covid recovery this winter and added confidence to plan ahead into 2022,” Mr Lowder said.
“It will also help to ensure that Glasgow Subway and Edinburgh Trams continue to play their part in the wider economic recovery,” he added.
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