Rails for failed Merseytram scheme sold for a third of their original cost

Rails bought by Merseyside’s transport authority for its failed Merseytram scheme were sold for a third of their original cost.

Merseytravel’s ambitious scheme considered three different routes for trams, including one connecting the city to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

But the final route chosen was between the city and Kirkby.

The authority spent £821,000 on steel rails for the trams to run on.

However, despite being given government backing in 2002, the scheme was shelved five years later after repeated delays and rising costs, with the final bill reaching £70m.

It was the third unsuccessful attempt by the authority to re-introduce trams to its streets. Liverpool’s tram system was scrapped in 1957.

Following the collapse of the plans, the rails were left in storage at the port of Immingham, on the River Humber.

Merseytravel’s then chief executive, Neil Scales, said the steel bought for rails could be sold at a profit.

Mr Scales, who quit his job in December 2011 to move to Brisbane in Australia as chief executive of south-east Queensland’s public transport authority TransLink, effectively doubling his salary to £300,000, said: “It is worth more now because we bought it before the Chinese entered the steel market, sending prices up.”

However, steel prices tumbled during the recession.

In 2013, when Merseytram was finally abandoned, Merseytravel said the steel it bought was enough to create around 18.5km of single line rail, or approximately 9.25km of twin line track.

It added: “We’ll be doing a condition check on it which will help inform any subsequent valuation, and ultimately what we do with it.

“Whatever decision we take will be the one that best serves the public purse. We aren’t incurring any costs for its storage.”

Now, following a Freedom of Information Act request by the Liverpool ECHO, the authority revealed the rails were eventually sold for £267,657.

In March 2015, an advert was placed in Tramways and Urban Transit magazine to sell the rails.

In April 2015, Merseytravel approved the sale of the steel.

• 700 rails were sold to the Isle of Man Government for £200,140 – £285.91 per rail
• 150 rails were sold to Crich Tramway Village museum in Derbyshire for £39,750 – £265 per rail
• 35 rails were sold to the Black Country Living Museum for £7,400 – £220 per rail
• 124 rails were sold to European Metal Recycling for £20,385.60 – £164.40 per rail

A Merseytravel spokesperson said: “Rails for the Merseytram project were first purchased in 2006, since when the price of steel has fallen significantly.

“Until the official decision to end the Merseytram project was taken in 2013, Merseytravel were not in a position to sell the rails.

“Following the closure of the scheme the organisation sought to recoup as much money as possible from the sale of the rails, and to avoid any future costs for storing them.

“The amount which the rails were eventually sold for was based on an independent market valuation.

“This valuation took into account not only the lower cost of steel, but also the fact that the type of rail acquired at the time has now been superseded by newer enhanced steel rail products – both key factors which severely limited the resale price which could be achieved.”