TRAM-TRAINS that can run on rail and roads could be a long-term solution to the Oxford to Witney transport link, campaigners have claimed.

The vehicles, which already run in many European countries, were first trialled in Sheffield in 1994, utilising a mixture of roads, reserved rights of way and railway lines.

Richard Stow, the chairman of the Thames Valley branch of Railfuture – an independent organisation campaigning for better rail services for passengers and freight – said although the tram-trains, could not be introduced in West Oxfordshire in the immediate future, they could be a cost-effective solution in the next two decades.

He said: “We see that as the most viable long-term solution.

“If this was Germany it would happen tomorrow morning but here there is little prospect of it happening within 25 years here.

“It would be a non-disruptive way of getting trams into the centre of Oxford.”

Mr Stow said the first step would be a more affordable short-term solution, in the form of a dedicated bus route along the A40. Trams could then replace the buses on this route and connect with the national rail network at Wolvercote in North Oxford.

It is thought they could then travel around the city to Cowley, where a proposed branch line could take them into the city centre.

Mr Stow said: “What we want to see is a very high-quality link between West Oxfordshire to cater for its growing population.

“The existing road system and bus service is completely inadequate to solve the problems of congestion and we need to look for a radical solution. It is a perfectly viable solution. The limit is how much money there is and how long it would take.”

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport David Nimmo Smith said nothing was yet ruled in or out for the upgrade of the Witney to Oxford link. But he cautioned that the set-up costs for a new tram system being introduced in Edinburgh were £700 million, and said its viability would depend on the numbers of passengers using it throughout the day, not just at peak times.

Maurizio Fantato, of Witney Oxford Transport Group, agreed tram-trains could be a solution but said he would rather see them run along a new route, based on reopening part of the disused Witney to Oxford railway line. He said: “If you make changes to the A40 you are still using the same congested artery. What we would like to see is a new artery.

“We know the county council favours a guided busway along the A40 but we don’t think this is a long-term solution. In Cambridge where they introduced a guided busway the initial budget quadrupled. They chose it because it was the most economical option but it turned out if they had built a railway they would have spent the same amount.

“We will believe this would be a better approach.”