I read last week's article about the possibility of trams in Lancaster with great interest.

I agree that the local rail system is under-used and that an inexpensive and reliable light tram system running the length of the district's urban corridor from Heysham to the university would certainly be the best option.

I was encouraged by the news that new technologies are making tram systems less expensive and experience of tram system in this country and abroad show that they are very popular with the public (more so than buses). When you consider that both the city and county council are pressing for a bypass which would cost £91 million (the final figure will no doubt be even higher) then surely an integrated tram system is an alternative worth consideration.

What a tram system would not do is open up vast areas of potential development land for industrial sites and more housing. Could this be why trams do not even make it onto the transport agenda?

Mr A Erskine, Morecambe.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.