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 has been increased from an hourly to a half-hourly service.

In Los Realejos, the new service will operate between San Vicente and Las Llanadas.

The company is pledged to develop more routes to meet government demand to get commuters, shoppers and visitors to the island out of cars and on to public transport.

TITSA island has a reputation for providing cheap and efficient bus services across the island.

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 is designed to relieve congestion in the two cities, which, unless checked, will cause traffic gridlock in five years time – New tram system to relieve traffic congestion.

The Tranvia was involved in its first accident during trials being carried out in the run-up to the opening when a woman was struck by a moving tram while she was distracted by her mobile phone. Fortunately she was only slightly injured.

The incident led to a number of safety concerns being voiced by some citizens, who claim the trams will be a threat to pedestrians walking along previously traffic-free streets.

The incident has prompted the operators of the new service to embark on a safety campaign in the build up to the opening, reminding citizens and shoppers of the need to be vigilant when walking near the tramlines.

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 whole line has double track.

The tramcars, built in Barcelona, have been specially adapted to cope with the steep gradients along the route, the track climbing 600 metres in 12km. The 32-metre trams are driven through all six wheels, enabling them to average 20km per hour on the journey. They have a top speed of 70km per hour.

The system will have 20 tramcars available at start up, each capable of carrying 200 passengers, 60 of them seated.

The operators, Metropolitano de Tenerife, expect around 44,000 journeys to be made each day in the first year, removing an estimated 10,000 cars from congested city streets.

Trams will run from 5am-midnight during weekdays and 24 hours a day at weekends and during festivals.

Future plans for the system include an extension taking the line from La Laguna to Tenerife’s north airport at Los Rodeos and a branch line to serve the district of La Cuesta, another heavily populated area.