Mersey Gateway wants a £64m grant from the Government to help cover land costs and decontamination with the rest of the money for the £300m-plus project coming from the private sector, who would recoup their investment through tolling on the new bridge. Government is due to make a decision on whether the Runcorn to Widnes link should go ahead, in the New Year. Two weeks ago, the timescale for the project was laid out by Minister for Transport Stephen Ladyman in a meeting with members of the Mersey Gateway team in London yesterday. The delegation included Cllr McDermott and his chief executive, David Parr, and received private sector backing from Neil Pakey, managing director of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and Steve O'Connor, managing director of Widnes-based O'Connor Transport. Cllr McDermott said the meeting was "positive" and had cleared up a number of issues for the team battling to make a second bridge a reality. He said: "We didn't come back with a cheque but we never expected to. "But importantly the minister said he felt there was a 'very, very strong strategic case for the bridge'. We were anxious to hear that the Government had not gone cold on the project and they haven't." The key objective for the Gateway team now is to get the bridge high up on the North West transport programme which will be submitted to the DfT in January for funding approvals. The new bridge would run from the Central Expressway in Runcorn to the Eastern Bypass in Widnes, to the east of the current bridge. jessicashaughnessy@dailypost.co.uk French carriage makers still backing 'axed' system MERSEYSIDE'S Tram scheme is "not dead" according to the company chosen to manufacture it's carriages. In a display of confidence French engineers Bombardier extended the deadline by which Merseytravel must place its order for cars, to March next year. It comes less than a week after transport minister Derek Twigg pulled the plug on Line One when he refused to release the vital £170m public funding towards the £500m total cost. Last night a Bombardier spokeswoman said the company would "continue to support" Merseytravel. She said: "As far as we in France are concerned the project is not dead." The deadline extension has given hope to backers that Merseytravel will be able to persuade the Government to release the funding after all. But cynics say the move is simply a no-cost manouvre to safeguard Bombardier's position as preferred manufacturer, hould the scheme eventually come off. The company has no contract with Merseytravel. | 
News RSS Feed