Targeting the enhance of public transportation in the Lefkosia Region and the efficient management of the traffic congestion, 10 urban Municipalities and the Ministry of Communication and Works, Department of Public works, cooperate for the designing and the implementation of the ambitious project “Tram of Lefkosia”. There are no rail tracks existing at the moment in Cyprus and the success of this pioneer project depends on the successful multilevel governance cooperation between local authorities and central government administrations.

At this stage, the prefeasibility analysis was completed and the main aspects of the project were examined (roots, infrastructures, cooperation, estimated cost etc.). According to the results of the study, the estimated cost for the implementation of the project amounts to €350,000,000 and approximately €6,000,000 annual operating costs.

The Municipality of Lefkosia launched an open call for the elaboration of the final feasibility study of the project. The expected outcomes of the study are the bankability of the project and the detailed description of the project implementation phases. In addition, “park and ride” options and transport services in response to demand will be examined.

Project’s results

Result 1 – Three Tram lines across the Lefkosia Region

Result 2 – Tram wagon frequency every 7,5 minutes

Result 3 – Correlation with other public transports (OSEL Buses) and transport services (taxis, bike-sharing, mini busses)

Result 4 – Reduction of the use of the private car by 30%

Result 5 – Upgrade the Capital city’s urban centre

Result 6 – Expected fuel energy savings ≈ 88,000 MWh/year

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 – Project can only be achieved with the multilevel governance cooperation

Lesson 2 – The crucial role of local authorities in the successful design and implementation of the project

Lesson 3 – A deep feasibility study is required

SMILEGOV in a nutshell

The project was built on the idea that cooperation between different levels of governance of islands (i.e. National, regional, local) can have a key role to play towards reaching the 20-20-20 EU goals in the area of energy and climate change.

The role of good multilevel cooperation is identified as one of the key points for consistent (between different levels) and eventually effective sustainable energy planning at the local level. Especially, when it comes to island communities this role proves to be crucial for the balanced development of the island, the resources management, the economic growth and the quality of life for the citizens and visitors.

SMILEGOV, based on success stories and close European cooperation will strengthen local capacity and work towards the improvement of multilevel cooperation in European islands aiming to facilitate the implementation of their sustainable energy action plans towards the EU 20-20-20 goals.

As for those islands that have not yet been through the sustainable energy planning process towards 2020, capacity building will be offered with the aim to support the island structures and enable them to develop their own planning and energy projects.

For the support of this process, clusters of European islands will be set up in the largest part of the European insular regions: The Atlantic (Canaries, Scotland), the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia) and the Mediterranean (Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Greece). The formation of clusters of islands and the exchange of knowledge at the local and regional level, the identification of Strategic Guidelines for overcoming existing barriers through the assistance of advanced islands, as well as the process of learning from the experience of models areas (“learning from the experts”) will be the guide for the exploration of this path.