Leeds City Council's Executive Board today approved the city's £27m local funding contribution required for the proposed Leeds trolleybus system to be submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT).

With the approvals from the City Council and Metro in place, plans for the 14km New Generation Transport (NGT) network can be submitted to the DfT as a Major Scheme Business Case by the end of October.

Decision

Discussions with DfT officials have indicated that Ministers will decide whether to give the go-ahead to the scheme by the end of 2009. Once NGT has been approved by the DfT for Programme Entry, the NGT team can start preparing a submission for a Transport and Works Act Order early in 2010. This would mean a Public Inquiry early 2011, full approval in 2013, when construction could begin, and the start of operation around 2015.

The local contribution approved today, representing 10% of the scheme's capital costs includes land previously acquired and development costs for the planned Supertram project. The remaining 90%, almost £1/4bn, has already been agreed by the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Transport Board as Regional Funding Allocation.

Vital

Cllr Andrew Carter, alternate Leader of Leeds City Council and Integrated Transport Authority member said, "The NGT trolleybus scheme is a vital element of Leeds' future economic growth and today's decision means it has overwhelming support in the form of £1/4bn of Regional Funding Allocation, the local contribution from the City Council and Metro, and backing from business leaders.

"We will be delivering the proposals to the DfT by the end of October when I hope that the city's MPs will be adding their voices to the campaign to secure a greener state-of-the-art, congestion-beating transport system for Leeds."