Six months on from Velez-Malaga council pulling the plug on their loss-making tram system, the mayor has announced that the trams themselves are to be sold or leased to a train operator in Sydney in Australia. The decision was taken after the regional government, the Junta de Andalucia, made it clear that they would not be making funds available to continue to operate the tram.

The mayor, Francisco Delgado Bonilla, has said that there has been an offer on the table, since October of last year, from the manufacturer of the trams CAF to rent the trams to Sydney. He has said that “given that the Junta does not want to make good on its promises, the best thing to do is accept this offer to lease the tram units” pointing out that the trams are simply sitting unused losing value. Despite the trams not running, Velez-Malaga council still has to pay a ticket subsidy to the operator, a subsidy which can be reduced once the trams have gone.
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