Trams: on time and £47m under budget

THE first stage of Edinburgh's trams scheme is set to delivered on time, with £47 million to spare.

Click here to view trams network >>

A new business case for the project, published today by the council's arms-length transport firm TIE, reveals that the public opening of the network has been set for February 25, 2011.

The cost for delivering phase 1a between Newhaven and the airport has been pegged at £498m including contingency funding - significantly below the £545m available.

It raises hopes that there may still be enough money to complete phase 1b - a spur from Haymarket to the Granton waterfront development - although a decision has been delayed until 2009.

City leaders have hailed the announcement as a huge boost for the Capital just months after the project appeared doomed because of hard-line opposition from Alex Salmond's SNP administration at Holyrood. The First Minister was forced to back down and approve the project after opposition parties joined forces to defeat the SNP in parliament.

Today's business case puts the overall cost of phases 1a and 1b at £585m, down £7m from the last official estimate. It also predicts that 11 million passengers will use the trams in their first year.

TIE chairman Willie Gallagher said: "This business case is the culmination of two years' hard work by a world-class team and we're confident that it puts forward the best possible solution for Edinburgh trams.

"Our commercial negotiations and rigorous procurement strategy have enabled us to cost the delivery of the tram line from Newhaven to Edinburgh Airport at £498m, well below the £545m available funding. We have included an option to procure an extension of the route, Haymarket to Granton, at a fixed price up to March 2009."

Although work to relocate pipes and water mains has been taking place across the city since April, construction work on the actual tram lines will get under way in February, according to a new timetable published today.

It is hoped phase 1b will be able to open by the end of 2012 if the council rules by the spring of 2009 that it can afford to build the £87m Haymarket-Granton link. A fixed price has been agreed with contractors as long as the council makes a decision by the deadline.

The council has committed £45m to the tram scheme, while £500m has been secured from the Scottish Government. The £498m cost of the first phase includes a £49m contingency fund against costs over-running. Should that fund not be needed, there would be enough money to complete phase 1b. The council has also not given up hope of raising enough cash to join up the "missing link" between Granton and Newhaven, as well as delivering the envisaged third route which would link the city centre with Newcraighall and Little France.

MSPs have already urged the Government to give extra cash to the Capital to ensure the city is not left with "half a network."

Council leader Jenny Dawe said: "Trams will provide Edinburgh with a modern public transport infrastructure fully integrated with our excellent, but already burgeoning, bus service."

Councillors will be asked next Thursday to give their official backing to allow the project to proceed.