Velez tram service to continue running

VELEZ-MALAGA Town Hall and transport company Travelsa have come to an agreement over the payment of the €2.1m for the tram service.

The mayor, Francisco Delgado Bonilla, reported that he and the provincial delegate of Public Works and Housing of the Junta de Andalucia, Enrique Benitez, met with the managers of Travelsa, and agreed to a payment plan which will allow the tram to continue running as usual.

The town hall has promised to pay the debt in several instalments and will also ensure that financing is provided for the third stage of the tram line. At the next plenary meeting on Friday July 29 the details of this will be discussed. The town hall will receive a loan to pay the €888,000 for 2010.

Delgado Bonilla said this will requite an “important economic effort” from the town hall but that it was necessary to put an end to a problem which the town hall had been facing for two years and which wasn’t dealt with by the former corporation. He has requested a “sense of responsibility” from the union representatives of Travelsa staff and has asked them to call off the strikes planned for Saturday and Tuesday as this agreement has guaranteed the continuity of the municipal transport service.

As well as the payments, the town hall intends to change the financial agreement for the municipal transport service, including the price of tickets.

Another objective is to bring the second phase of the tram service, which would extend the route by 1.2 kilometres, into operation. Work on the second phase was completed more than two years ago. The mayor said he hoped it would be running before the end of this year.

Photo credit: www.panoramio.com / JULITA