Environmentally friendly, punctual and safe, tram networks are a popular form of public transport around the world. So why don't we have one in Bristol?
As the cost of the MetroBus project continues to spiral, many people across Bristol are left feeling bitter and disappointed at the length of time it has taken to develop the infrastructure, let alone get bums on seats.
While changes and delays are par for the course with any major transport shake-up, questions are being asked as to why a bus network was chosen and whether alternatives were explored.
Has Bristol ever had trams?
Yes, in fact, Bristol had a thriving tram network and the city was revered as a pioneer of the urban tram by the early 20 century.
Launched in 1875, the first horse-drawn tram appeared on the streets of Bristol and took passengers from King David's Hotel in Perry road to St John's Church in Redland.
Its success prompted Bristol Tramways to put on more services between Horfield and Brislington.
Two decades later Bristol became one of the first cities in the world to adopt electric trams, with the first running between Old Market and Kingswood.
According to historian Paul Townsend, there were 31 miles of tramways between Bristol and South Gloucestershire by 1908.
But after the First World War the system went into decline as buses became more popular. Already earmarked for closure, the final service was stopped abruptly by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
The damage was extensive around Victoria Street and the St Philip's Bridge was destroyed, severing the main power cable for the tram system from the main electricity generating station next to the bridge.
The one tramcar which was still out that night was in Regent Street, Kingswood. The last ever tram journey in Bristol was undertaken by the driver, whose conductor and some bystanders gave him a push so that he could freewheel it back into the depot.
One tramcar is believed to be in the possession of the Bristol Aero collection, which is due to open a new museum at Filton soon.
Bristol's swinging seventies and the return of the tram?
By the 1970s, Bristol's traffic congestion had become so bad that people were talking about bringing back the trams again.
The first serious tram plans since the war came from architect Brian Tucker and Conservative MEP Richard Cottrell and their firm, Advanced Transport for Avon.
The duo had proposed a new light, rapid-transit system for Bristol in the late 1970s – but it would be almost a decade before they had a realistic blueprint in place.
ATA proposed a network which would connect the centre of Bristol to surrounding towns.
Some new rails would have to be laid in the centre of Bristol but for the most part the system would use existing or redundant rail routes.
The radical thing about the Avon Metro was that the cost – perhaps £230 million – would be covered by the private sector.
Cottrell, a colourful and extrovert frontman, who had previously been a journalist and television presenter, said it would not cost ratepayers or taxpayers anything.
He called it "a free gift to the people of Avon".
ATA unveiled the Avon Metro amid a great deal of fanfare in November 1987.
Reporters were told that Bristol was going to get a clean and efficient network of state-of-the-art trams each whisking up to 200 passengers at a time into town and home again.
The first route, from Wapping Wharf to Portishead and Portbury, was due to open by 1991 and entire system would be complete by the late 1990s.
There would be routes from the city centre to Yate via Temple Meads and Emersons Green – and a potential interchange link with the M4.
Another line would run from the Centre to Filton via Temple Meads, Parkway and Bradley Stoke. Yet another would go to South Bristol, then forking to Hartcliffe and to Weston-super-Mare.
The Parliamentary bill for the first route received Royal Assent in May 1989 – but even by then it was running into problems.
The Port of Bristol feared the metro would stop it exploiting the freight potential of a reopened line from Portbury into Bristol.
Bristol South MP Dawn Primarolo raised concerns in the House of Commons about the system's safety and financing, while the ruling Labour group on the council fell out among themselves over plans to run a link from the Floating Harbour to Temple Meads via The Centre.
But perhaps the biggest problem was the scheme's financial model. There was no easy way for ATA to grab any share in the increased value of land next to its proposed lines if that land was owned by other developers. And with the economic downturn of the early 1990s, those increases in land values evaporated anyway.
When ATA collapsed Avon County Council was already looking at plans of its own for a £180 million light rail scheme, to be called the Westway rapid-transit project. This scheme, like so many others, would fail and then give way to more plans.
Trams in the 21 century
But the end of Avon County Council in 1996 did not end the dream of a tram system.
Within a few years, Bristol City Council and its newly-created neighbour, South Gloucestershire, were discussing a new route to link the city centre to the fast-growing areas to the north and west.
This time labelled the 'Bristol Supertram', hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent on consultants and planning for the £120 million route.
But then, in one of the disputes that came to define the way the former Avon councils dealt with big projects, South Gloucestershire insisted that the line, which had been intended to terminate at Almondsbury to bring commuters into the city, should instead finish at the new shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway.
Bristol resisted, with the city council fearing that if the line went that far, it would take people away from the shops in the city centre to the new rival at The Mall.
Financial experts weighed up the case for both options, and sided with Bristol. But despite the promise of £160 million in government funding for the scheme - estimated costs having risen to £240 million - South Gloucestershire refused to budge.
Faced with a choice between keeping an increasingly expensive and complicated plan alive, and reducing council tax, the politicians of the day in Bristol opted for the latter, and by 2004 the scheme had been officially declared dead.
Could Bristol have trams in the future?
While not impossible, it seems unlikely. With the MetroBus project still not launched or even completed, it would be surprising if Bristol City Council suggested another high-cost programme, especially as it is attempting to make £100million in savings.
Although not directly in the heart of the city, North Somerset Council has applied to central government for £2 million in funding to draw up proposals to ease congestion between the city centre and Bristol Airport meaning a very basic tramline could be in the offing. However, the idea is in its very early stages and is in no way confirmed.
For many the concept of a tram network was a missed opportunity for Bristol and something which could have boosted the city's economy and helped ease its ever-increasing congestion problem.