The House of Lords' transport spokesman has said a tram network proposed for north Kent is the 'golden solution' to traffic problems.

Baroness Randerson was visiting Ebbsfleet Garden City and the surrounding area to discuss sustainability while meeting those behind the KenEx Thames Transit project last Tuesday.

The £600 million scheme could be delivered in four years and would see two routes, one between Dartford and Gravesend and another between Bluewater and Lakeside, constructed.

A 1km tunnel would run under the Thames and there would be an interchange outside Ebbsfleet United's Kuflink Stadium, in Stonebridge Road.

Baroness Randerson said: "I'm interested in how the big new developments can harness transport systems of the future. We can't build towns and cities for the car these days.

"This is a highly congested area already and it's going to get worse with all the development planned. This exciting new project is really the golden solution to that problem. If the finances stack up it is a sensible way of getting people out of their cars and is heaps more environmentally friendly."

Professor Lewis Lesley, a consultant on the project, said the network would eventually run alongside Highways England's Lower Thames Crossing, which is expected to be open by 2027, and answers 'a completely different question' by solely dealing with the issues of local travel.

He added a two-lane tram can take the same amount of people as a six-lane road and that similar projects in Manchester, Croydon, Nottingham, Birmingham and Sheffield had led to a 20% drop in the number of cars on the road.

According to KenEx, the project would be entirely privately funded and would pay for itself within 40 years.

Designer Gordon Pratt said: "Local roads simply cannot cope. Consultants say the whole area will become gridlocked without an alternative method of transport.

"Local bus operators have been very supportive as they realise a tram line would help their business. Evidence shows trams lead to less cars on the road and also encourage users to get the bus more.

"This project would improve the quality of local people's lives."

David Moore, a lawyer for Dentons specialising in rail and tram projects, also attended the meeting and discussed how privately-funded projects like KenEx have proved viable across the country without any public investment, referencing The New Tyne Crossing and the Heathrow Southern Railway.

He said he would be following the project closely and hoped to get on board at the stage when advisors are needed.