The Finnish government has included funding for Tampere’s light rail project in its latest transport budget.
The state has set aside €71 million for the project in its €700 million 2017-20 transport budget, which also includes support for the Raide–Jokeri light rail link and the Helsinki–Turku link.
Following the announcement, Tampere’s mayor, Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, said that construction of the first phase of the scheme could begin next spring.
Phase one of the route will link the city centre with the suburb of Hervanta. The plan is then to extend it by 2022 to Tampere’s central hospital and the Lentävänniemi suburb.
The cost of the project has been estimated at €250 million, plus an additional €83 million for the rolling stock.
