Sharp decline in passengers on reduced horse trams

The horse trams currently run from the northern end of the promenade to the Villa Marina

There has been a sharp decline in people using the Isle of Man horse trams, the infrastructure minister has said.

Tim Crookall said there had been 45,000 passenger journeys recorded in 2023 compared to 78,000 in 2018.

This year marked the first full year of the trams since the service was curtailed by the promenade revamp and the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Crookall said direct income to the Department of Infrastructure from the service had fallen from £140,000 in 2018 to £44,000 when run on a shortened track this year.

He faced questions in the House of Keys about the affect the shortened track has had on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway since a major refurbishment of the promenade.

Mr Crookall said while it could not be known for certain if the shorter length had a direct impact on the service, he believed it had hampered numbers.

But he said the figures did not include income from "go explore tickets", which could be used across all the island's heritage railways and buses.

Service deficit

Many passengers now used multi-trip tickets, which had seen an increase of 42% in income since 2018, Mr Crookall said.

While he said operating costs had reduced from £340,140 to £313,808 over the period, the government subsidy for the service had risen from £200,140 to £269,000 due to the reduced income.

Garff MHK Daphne Caine, who is chairman of the Douglas Bay Tramway Heritage Trust, said the reinstallation of the full tracks to the Sea Terminal would be an "investment in our tourism infrastructure" and would generate more income through increased passengers.

Mr Crookall said talks were ongoing with the Visit Isle of Man agency over the issue and it was "important a decision is made very soon, so we know what's going to happen".