Mindful of the need to get people out of their cars and on to public transport, the island authorities on Tenerife are looking to increase the frequency and coverage of the services. Just a few weeks after the launch of the new tram service that connects the island capital of Santa Cruz with the neighbouring town of La Laguna, the island bus operator, TITSA, has announced a raft of improvements to services in the north of the island. The frequency of services between the northern town of Icod de los Vinos and Santa Cruz (service 106) has been boosted by an additional eight journeys a day. Line 363, which runs from Puerto de la Cruz to Buenavista del Norte ...

The new tram system in the Tenerife capital of Santa Cruz will carry its first fare-paying passengers on June 2. The new light rail system, or Tranvia, as it is known on the island, has been ready to go into service for a week or two now but its inauguration was delayed because of local elections due to take place on May 27. Officially, the tram service's political masters did not want to be accused of taking advantage of the opening. The cynical among you are probably thinking that they might also have considered that voters might not be favourably disposed towards them if the service hit unforeseen snags during its early days of operation. Tramcars are already a familiar sight in the business centres of Santa Cruz and its near neighbour La Laguna, the two areas linked by the new service. The metro system ...

A new light rail system, or tranvia as it is more generally known, goes into service on the island of Tenerife shortly. A 7.5-miles line will operate between the island capital of Santa Cruz and the neighbouring city of La Laguna. The metro system is designed to relieve congestion in the two cities, which, unless checked, will cause traffic gridlock in five years time. The route of the new service will mean that more than half of the 350,000 population of the two cities will have no more than a five-minute walk to their nearest tram stop. The overhead electricity power supply to the tramcars will be generated by ten specially-commissioned wind turbines, making it a totally zero-emission system. Initially, trams will run every five minutes, with a journey time of 37 minutes. Stops are situated every 500-600 metres and the ...