Central Londons tram is an ideal candidate for public finance according to parameters set out in the Governments 2004 Spending Review. This review allows the Mayor of London to borrow £344 million for non-Tube projects.

The service is a prime candidate because of the significant and cost effective contribution it will make to transport capacity in London . Furthermore, its construction does not wholly depend on the public purse because of the attractiveness of the project to the private sector, largely because of the number of passengers it will carry.

The tram system in central London received a major boost at the end of 2004 when Transport for London  released its business case and announced £24.1m to take the scheme forward to Transport and Works Order, the next stage in the development of the scheme. After this stage it is envisaged there will be substantial private sector interest.

European Funding CRP was one of 12 partners in a North West Europe INTERREG bid for European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) money to support the integration of cross border high-speed trains into urban areas. In February 2004 the bid was approved and CRP awarded £2 million through this programme, based on the direct link the tram will create between the two high-speed train stations, Waterloo and St Pancras. This is matched by the same amount by other sources including SRB, Section 106 and Transport for London s funding. The money will be spent to develop environmental improvements, physical and socio-economic initiatives (see Complementary Measures)

The money will be used to maximise the transport, economic, social and environmental benefits of the tram by identifying and implementing small scale projects along its route. These projects will ensure the tram is well integrated with buses, tubes and trains and ensure it contributes to public realm and local environmental improvements. These actions will directly tackle issues raised in a National Audit Office report, comparing the British model of tram investment to those used in France and Germany . This is downloadable from the bottom of the page.

The funding has been awarded for a five year programme running from 2003/04 until 2007/08. More details on this funding source can be found by clicking on the HST link on the left hand side of this page.