A man from Onchan has submitted a petition to Tynwald calling on the government to look at extending the length of the Douglas horse tram route.

Trevor Nall, who submitted his petition during Tynwald Day on Friday, believes that the route should be extended again back towards the Sea Terminal, and says that appropriate funding and an approved plan has been available for this ‘for a number of years’.

Trevor said: ‘There’s been a lot of work at the other end of the line and at the stable’s, but despite Tynwald approval, nothing has been done towards the Sea Terminal.

‘Work has also been done on the structure of the track, just for the route to end up in the middle of nowhere.

‘I’ve been in constant communication with those who come off the boat from Heysham or Liverpool, and they tell me that it’s not a very good look.

‘It’s unique, it’s almost 160 year old and there isn’t another one anywhere in the world. Why not make more of an effort and finally link the route up to where it should be?’

Trevor also bemoaned the lack of signage around the area with regards to where the route ends.

He continued: ‘There are a number of departments that aren’t very good at promoting these wonderful things that we have, so a lot of work needs to be done in that area too.

‘However, if people just walked out of the Sea Terminal after arriving to the island and saw a Victorian looking shelter with a horse tram waiting, they’d know where it is.

‘This has been promised on a number of occasions, and I’m wondering how much longer we’ll have to wait before it happens.’

During a House of Keys sitting in December 2023, it was confirmed that the number of passenger journeys on the horse tram had fallen from 78,000 to 45,000 in five years.

The Minister for Infrastructure Tim Crookall said: ‘The department’s direct income from the horse tram service was £140,000 in 2018 compared to £44,000 in 2023.

‘It is not known if this decrease in numbers can be attributed to the shorter length of track, and obviously we’re still recovering from the reconstruction of the tramway and the effect of Covid-19.

‘It must be noted that many more of our passengers now use multi-trip tickets called “go explore”, and these tickets have seen an increase of 42% in income since 2018.’

Talking about the effect of the shortened length of the tram track, Mr Crookall added: ‘I think it’s made a difference not having the tram tracks the whole way since the renovation.

‘But that will be a decision for the future. It could be a tough decision between this and something else that the department can or can’t do if it’s a capital project.’