Prountzos touts tram for Nicosia – ‘What exactly are we waiting for to intervene?’

Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos on Tuesday revived the idea of a tramway being built in the capital, stressing the problems faced by the current state of public transport in Nicosia and asking, “what exactly are we waiting for to intervene?”. “The tram is yet another topic endlessly recycled in public discourse without a clear direction. The result is disappointment and cynical amusement among sceptical members of the public,” he said. However, he said, on the question of whether a tram system could “offer a viable solution for high-traffic corridors in Nicosia and Limassol”, he said that “for Nicosia, this question has already been answered in the affirmative by a study conducted by the Nicosia municipality in collaboration with a leading transport consultancy firm”. He said that of journeys taken in Nicosia, “it is widely acknowledged that bus usage currently accounts for no more than four or five per cent of the modal split”. On this front, he added that almost 17 years after the current citywide bus system was implemented, “and with a total expenditure exceeding €1bn since then”, the proportion of people taking the bus “falls far short of the targets set in 2020”. “The reasons extend beyond the bus contracts themselves, which clearly lack a focus on the passenger experience or attracting riders. A fundamental reason is the lack of adequate infrastructure, such as effective citywide bus lane networks,” he said. To this end, he said that “spatial planning and urban development realities” in Nicosia have “rendered recent sustainable urban mobility plans obsolete”. “The simple truth is that the integration of bus routes into Google Maps has confirmed that, with very few exceptions, bus travel takes twice as long as using a private car and comes at a high cost. While the passenger experience inside the bus is positive, the overall experience falls well below par,” he said. ‘Fragmentation of responsibilities’ in Nicosia’s bus network He then decried a “fragmentation of responsibilities” with regard to Nicosia’s bus network, saying that “local government plays a negligible role in the equation, yet it bears the environmental and political costs”. “Bus service contracts are concluded between the transport ministry and private companies without any municipal involvement. Traffic management is handled by the public works department, while critical urban planning projects fall under the town planning department,” he said. This, he added, is “a chaotic, convoluted situation which will never yield solutions to the traffic problem if it persists”. Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos “The option of a tram system is being considered as a new approach to fixed-track transport which fosters the regeneration of public space and prioritises public transport over private vehicles,” he said. He said that the Nicosia municipality had initially prepared a study for a 14-kilometre tram line, and that after he took office in 2024, the length of the planned line grew to 20km. The total cost of the project, he said, would be between €25 million and €30 million per kilometre, thus working out at a total ranging between €500m and €600m, with those estimates based on the cost of the construction of the tramway in the French Mediterranean coastal city of Marseille between 2007 and the beginning of this year. He said that the success of the Lefkothea energy community – an initiative by which individuals and local businesses in Nicosia can produce renewable energy and thus reduce their reliance on the grid, is “closely linked” to the future success of the tramway. “Electricity costs represent a significant component of tram operating expenses. The ability to generate and consume low-cost energy from renewable sources for the tram system would make it more affordable and sustainable,” he said. ‘The critical moment is now’ As such, he said, “the tough question … is whether the option of a tram system should at last be seriously evaluated, either as an investment or as a public-private partnership”. “A stubborn insistence on buses makes no sense given the current situation, and the critical moment is now, given that the process of awarding new bus contracts is moving forward with contracts which will define the parameters and prospects of mobility until 2040,” he said. He acknowledged that local elections will be held in 2029, but stressed that “these issues demand long-term solutions, not mere grandstanding”. “For once, allow us to have a long-term view rather than being wise in hindsight,” he said. He stressed that “we are not in an adversarial relationship” with the transport ministry, and that “our relationship must be one of full cooperation”. File photo: Traffic in Nicosia Traffic congestion in Nicosia ‘poses a massive threat to public health’ “We are not being frivolous when we speak of a tram system, but rather, we maintain that now is the time to seriously explore that possibility. Longstanding, unresolved issues must be settled,” he said. On this matter, he pointed out that traffic congestion in Nicosia “poses a massive threat to public health and to public finances”, given the “violation of European Union obligations regarding emissions”. Additionally, he said, it “undermines the country’s prospects of development” as “we are ‘selling’ a quality of life which is constantly being degraded in practice”. “People spend 20 per cent of their waking lives in cars. Public space is dominated by cars. Air quality in Cyprus is the fourth leading cause of death. People experience ‘transport poverty’ due to the enormous costs associated with purchasing and maintaining a vehicle,” he said. He pointed out that the EU’s next multiannual financial framework – the bloc’s budget for the period covering the years between 2028 and 2034 – enters force “in about a year”, and said that as such, discussions about a tramway “should have already started”. “What exactly are we waiting for to intervene?”.