TRAMS are unlikely to return to a North-East city's streets for at least another decade.
Project Orpheus is a 20-year blueprint for network improvements planned for Newcastle by public transport operator Nexus.
The group is recommending that funds for the first ten years of the project should be concentrated on improvements to buses and the Metro light rail network.
If the plans are approved by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, trams would return to the region in the second phase of the project.
The authority will vote on the report next Thursday.
Mike Parker, Nexus director general, said: "Traffic is continuing to rise faster here than elsewhere in the UK with the prospect of a 25 per cent increase in the next ten years, with all the consequent damage the resulting congestion will cause to the economy and environment.
"Orpheus is about encouraging car owners for some of their journeys to use public transport.
"That public transport has to be high quality and well designed. Unless there is substantial investment, Metro in ten years time will not be good enough to attract car users."
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