Parade of horse trams to mark the end of 2015 season and possible relocation of trams on Douglas Promenade.

The famous Douglas horse tram service is to be discontinued because of the financial burden on rates payers, Douglas Council has announced.

After a meeting yesterday the decision was made that the historic tourist attraction would not run in 2016 or beyond.

A council statement said the rolling stock would go to museums within the island or UK and good homes would be found for the horses.

The stable buildings are to be sold off.

The statement goes on to say:

‘The decision follows a proposal by the council to amalgamate the Tramway Terrace stables site with the tramway hub at the Strathallan site, a scheme estimated, as of December 2015, to cost in the region of £2.9million. When this was received at a joint meeting of the executive and regeneration and community committees in December, members determined the scheme was not financially viable and presented a number of unresolved issues, and therefore decided not to progress the project.

‘The proposal was to finance the scheme by a 30-year loan, which would have cost the council £4,800,000 over its life.’

Quote:To continue operating the horse tram service would place an unacceptable level of burden on the ratepayer

Cllr David Christian

Council leader David Christian said:

‘The council must always act in the best interests of the ratepayers of Douglas. To continue operating the horse tram service would place an unacceptable level of burden on the ratepayer, not only for the coming financial year, but also for the foreseeable future. The council recognises the important contribution the service has made to the island’s vintage transport heritage but Douglas, as with all local authorities, is having to make difficult decisions to fund, protect and develop key services.

‘The council has a duty to face and adapt to stark financial realities, to maintain a firm grip on its finances and deliver value for money to the ratepayer. Were the council to continue operating the horse tram service it would be failing in that duty.’

The future of the horse trams was already controversial, with plans to renovate Douglas Promenade meaning they could be moved to the walkway.

Isle of Man Newspapers conducted a poll among readers about it.

See here to read the story.

In the postal vote, 732 voted.

The option to scrap the horse trams entirely was backed by 171,

The island’s other historic railways - the steam railway between Douglas and Port Erin, the Manx Electric Railway and the Snaefell Mountain Railway – are run and subsidised by the Manx government.

Council leader David Christian

They, and the horse trams, are said to be big pulls for tourism.

There is already speculation on social media that this decision from Douglas Council will lead to the government stepping in and taking over, although with the public finances already strained that is unlikely to be a popular move with the Treasury.

Douglas Council has in the past handed over legacies from the town’s tourist past to the government.

Summerland and the Villa Marina were once council-owned and run.

Coincidentally, in this week’s Manx Independent there is a nostalgia photo special on the horse trams.

John Turner

Response to Closure of the Horse Trams 

“Manx National Heritage is extremely disappointed at today’s announcement from Douglas Corporation regarding the closure of the Isle of Man’s iconic Horse Trams.  The announcement is contrary to reassurances Manx National Heritage has previously received from Douglas Corporation.

The Isle of Man’s historic transport network is an important part of the Isle of Man’s Visitor Economy and part of our unique offering as a visitor destination.  It is disappointing that Douglas Corporation are not seeing the opportunities presented by the Isle of Man’s new Destination Management Plan developed in partnership with public and private sectors, especially given that in recent years, leisure tourism here has seen double digit growth. In particular major UK travel companies such as Great Rail Journeys have started to bring substantial numbers of groups to the Island. Indeed we are preparing to welcome organised parties to the Island early in March this year, lengthening the season and helping to sustain local businesses in Douglas.

Ironically, all over Europe and further afield new tramways are opening up, including a horse tramway in Dobeln in Germany which has recently been rebuilt and reopened after being closed for 90 years.

From a conservation perspective the best way to preserve historic rolling stock is to maintain it in operation in a sustainable way rather than transferring the costs of upkeep of a static object to a museum or group of volunteers. These historic vehicles were designed to move.

Manx National Heritage fully recognises that difficult financial conditions require bold and innovative solutions. We remain keen to work with Douglas Corporation and other key stakeholders to find a solution for the benefit of the Island and all those supported by our visitor economy”.


Image caption: Douglas horse tram No. 14 stopped alongside the Villa Marina Arcade during horse tram centenary celebrations, 9 August 1976 

MHKs unanimously backed a call to explore ways to save Douglas’s iconic horse trams.

But there were warnings that any move to keep the trams running will come at a significant cost.

Lib Van leader Kate Beecroft tabled a motion for emergency debate calling for the Council of Ministers to explore all possibilities to allow the horse trams to be transferred to another entity, and to report back as a matter of urgency.

She said:

‘The horse trams are a national issue. They are part of our heritage. These are iconic things. I think we actually take things for granted because we have grown up with them.

‘And if at the end of the day, no solution can be found, then I think we are going to have to grit our teeth and take that decision, but at this point we have not looked at all the options.’

Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne said a working group had already been set up to look at the options and it would meet for the first time this week.

He said that committee will include his department, the public transport heritage railways team, the Department of Economic Development, including the Minister and member for Tourism and the tourism director, the chairman and director of Manx National Heritage and the two MHKs for Douglas East.

Mr Gawne said the decision by Douglas Council to axe the horse tramway had come as ‘something of a blow’ to him. He said he was confident there are workable solutions and given that Douglas Council has not engaged in cost cutting exercises to slim the service down, he would be surprised if the reported £250,000 loss made by the trams could not be reduced.

Douglas South MHK Bill Malarkey said he was ‘totally gutted’ that the horse trams are to stop. He said:

‘This government must look at this. We are not talking megabucks. I looked up how much we are throwing into the Wildlife Park – I think it is about £400,000 a year. It had 55,000 visitors. Well, in 2014 the horse trams had 63,000 people using them, more than the Wildlife Park and yet again subsidised by the taxpayers of the Isle of Man.’

Mr Bell told the Keys that government could not be used as the constant default situation for every problem that comes along.

He pointed out: ‘We have been committed to a smaller, smarter government. And here we are at the first challenge, we take on further responsibilities and further costs.’

He ‘congratulated’ Douglas Council for the ‘political dexterity’ it had shown in ‘shifting overnight’ a major problem for Douglas ratepayers onto the taxpayer and by ‘remarkable sleight of hand’ it was ‘now government getting attacked for not immediately taking it on’.

Mr Bell said he would support Mrs Beecroft’s motion as it talked of transferring the horse trams to another entity, and not necessarily government.

‘But please go into this with your eyes wide open,’ he implored.

Peter Karran (Lib Van, Onchan) agreed there should no open chequebook.

John Houghton (Douglas North) suggested the trams could be run by volunteers on a smaller section of the walkway on Loch Promenade only.

Douglas East MHK Chris Robertshaw said he was shocked by the ‘perfunctory’ nature of the decision but what he found even more disturbing was the declaration by the leader of Douglas Council that tourism was at an end. ‘I am absolutely disgusted by that comment,’ he said.

Juan Watterson (Rushen) said Douglas Council was wrong to think it could ‘just walk away’ as under the 1876 Tramways Act it was liable for the costs of removing the tracks.