Taken from Thursday's South Wales Echo:-

Wales^ leading transport expert said he envisaged a transport system where trams shared the roads with cars in Cardiff. Backing Sewta^s plans for electrified trains, Professor Stuart Cole, of the University of Glamorgan, said it was possible to imagine a system where trams used existing rail tracks coming down from Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr then came on to the streets of Cardiff from Cathays. They would then travel along St Mary Street into the lower level of Cardiff Central station and on to Barry and Penarth.

"It would be similar to what the French have done in Grenoble and Bordeaux", he said. "There could also be a new tram route starting in Culverhouse Cross, coming through the city centre and then along Newport Road. Unlike Bordeaux, which started from scratch, we already have park and ride facilities. What^s necessary is to plan for the long term and then go for it".

But Prof Cole acknowledged funding would be a problem. "In Bordeaux they had built up a substantial fund over years by imposing a development tax on planning schemes, There^s no legislation like that here. Even so, the bulk of the funding in Bordeaux came from the French central government".

Prof Cole also said the argument in favour of electrifying the Valleys lines was a strong one. "Cardiff is one of the busiest rail hubs on the Network Rail network ^ it^s much bigger than Bristol, for example", he said.
^Seven or eight years ago I calculated that electrifying the Valleys lines would cost about ^250m, including new rolling stock and putting up overhead wiring etc. The cost would be higher now. There would be both environmental benefits and advantages in journey time.^

A spokesman for Sewta said it was felt any proposal to run trams along Cardiff^s streets would be prohibitively expensive".

WalesOnline Link

Does a city like Kairdiff really need a tram network?

Oh ye of little faith - mind you, it IS 15 years later rather than 10 ..

The Mayor of Bordeaux at the time the tram network was planned and funding agreed was Alain Juppé. He was elected in 1995, and planning for the network began almost at once. Building started in 2000, and the first line opened in December 2003 with a ceremony attended not only by Monsieur le Maire, but also President Jacques Chirac. Whether the route to the funding was made easier by M. Juppé being the Prime Minister of the French Republic at the same time is a matter for future debate amongst historians. Nobody in Bordeaux seems to have complained.

Maybe Caerdydd should consider a change of spelling for the English version of its name to Keirdiff?