BENDIGO'S council has put a game-changing tram plan out to tender just as the state government trumpets its own huge investment.
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The City of Greater Bendigo on Wednesday approved a construction tender for the $10.7 million museum and workshop renovation.
The council, state government and Bendigo Heritage Attractions are touting the push as a major coup for the city's heavy manufacturing industry.
Bendigo's council will spend up to $1.5 million on its share of the project, half a million dollars more than originally planned.
Council staff say that is because of revisions during the design process that saw the build split over two sites, and more work needed on its land.
It will lead the project under current plans.
Manufacturing remains Bendigo's biggest industry but Cr Julie Sloan said it had been eroded over the years.
"And that is our loss," she said during council table discussions.
Victoria's tram industry got another boost less than 12 hours after Bendigo's council launched tenders.
The state government announced on Thursday morning that Bombardier Transportation Australia had won the contract to build 100 new and accessible trams as well as a new maintenance facility in Melbourne.
New trams will replace Melbourne's longest serving stock, which has high floors and steps that some find hard to navigate.
The government has touted its tram plan as the "largest investment in locally-made trams in Australia's History".
The plan could see up to 1900 Victorians employed at its peak, the government said.
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