Municipal councils in Tampere and Pirkkala have decided to advance plans to add another 13 kilometres of rails to the city's tram network.
The project plan — a technical document evaluating the impacts and costs of the extension — can now proceed before a final decision is made in 2024.
Commuter town Pirkkala would be the main beneficiary of the plan, as it would extend line number 1 an extra 9.3 kilometres from Tampere city centre through the Härmälä, Hatanpää and Partola neighbourhoods to Suupa, in Pirkkala.
There would be a total of eleven new stops on this section of track.
In the north-east of the city, another 4.3km of track is intended to add four new stops after the Kauppi campus terminus.
Tampere council added a note to their decision that stipulates the plan must ensure motorists are still able to use the Hatänpään valtatie thoroughfare as a route into the city centre.
The project plan is estimated to cost some 13.5 million euros in total, with Pirkkala paying five million and Tampere 8.5 million. The project as a whole will come in at around 335 million euros.
If approval is granted next year, construction would start in 2025 and trams could start using the route in 2029.