The engineering project will be the biggest ever in Leeds

City council officials are pressing for a meeting with Transport Secretary Alistair Darling to see if the revised scheme can go ahead.

The government suspended the project in July 2004 after costs spiralled.

Planning permission requires work to start by March 2006 so organisers are asking to extend this by three years.

Bring down costs

The revised scheme cut 4.5 miles from the proposed network and slashed £250m in costs.

It is hoped this will bring costs close to the £355m originally pledged by the government in 2001.

A spokesman for Metro, the West Yorkshire public transport organisation, said: "Since we launched the restructured bid for Supertram we have been pressing for a meeting with the Department for Transport to find out if it is going to get the go-ahead.