Horse tram to run full length of Douglas promenade by 2028

The Douglas horse trams are expected to run along the whole of the promenade again by summer 2028, according to BBC News Isle of Man.

The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) has confirmed that construction is provisionally forecast to last 35 weeks, and that it expects to put the works out to tender early next year, the BBC reported.

“Considerable analysis and development work has been undertaken since the department established a project team in July,” the department said, according to the BBC.

DoI teams have been digging trial holes on Loch Promenade so that the detailed design of the works can be settled, the BBC said.

The trams currently run between Derby Castle and Broadway, roughly half of the 1.6-mile (2.6km) route, which stretches from Strathallan Terminal to the Sea Terminal.

The line opened in 1876, when Victorian visitors were flocking to the island, and it remains a popular attraction, according to the BBC. The 3ft (0.9m) gauge tramway still runs many of its original cars. It is one of the island’s heritage lines, along with the Manx Electric Railway and the Isle of Man Steam Railway.

Service was halted in 2015 so the promenade could be resurfaced, although revised plans allowed the trams to run in the summers of 2016, 2017 and 2018, the BBC reported. The track was relaid the year after, and by July 2022 trams had returned between the depot and Broadway.

Earlier this year, the former infrastructure minister Tim Crookall brought a business case to Tynwald for reinstating the line along its full length, the BBC said.