It appears that the financing of the Leeds NGT trolley bus scheme is something the lobbyists who will profit from scheme, are keen to hush up.

In July 2012, the official NGT website ‘transport extra’ announced £173.5 million government funding to enable the Leeds New Generation Transport (NGT) trolleybus network to go ahead. The estimated total cost is widely reported to be about £250 million. Because the Government refuses to finance the whole scheme, this leaves a shortfall of £76.5 million that Leeds City Council will have to find in the “Age of Austerity”. Leeds has already been earmarked for a range of cuts amounting to £96 million in the current period.

This estimated £76.5 million can only come through a combination of more cuts to services, PFI loans, and rises in Council Tax. Cost overruns and debt servicing will be very large: a lot more than £76.5 million.

PFI (Private Finance Initiative) is notoriously expensive. It is likened to paying your mortgage with a credit card. Current analysis shows that £1 borrowed will require about £6 in repayment. The trolleybus financial load is too much for the City to carry.

All local councillors should now be asking questions about this aspect of the trolley bus.

The diagram below from the Guardian of 6th July 2012 best illustrates the cost of PFI: