Buses face being 'trashed' to pay for loss-making trams - union

Published on Wednesday 29 June 2011 19:08

UNION leaders representing workers at Edinburgh's biggest bus company have mounted a new campaign against the capital's tram scheme over fears the firm will be used to help keep the troubled project afloat.

The Unite trade union had previously headed off plans to merge Lothian Buses with the city council's tram firm.

Now it has warned that committing the city to a tram line to the city centre will lead to the local authority having to "plunder" the firm's profits.

Its fears emerged as a former chief executive of Lothian Buses warned that passengers would face higher fares and cuts in services to help keep a loss-making tram system afloat.

Neil Renilson, who had led efforts to integrate bus and tram services in the city before taking early retirement, said Lothian Buses faced being "trashed" to provide extra funds for the tram.

Rab Fraser, chairman of the Lothian Buses branch of Unite, said: "The Scottish Government has made it very clear that there won't be a penny more than the 500 million already allocated.

"We know what this means and councillors know what it means too. It means borrowing money against Lothian Buses' income and then requiring Lothian Buses to carry the repayment costs."

Mr Fraser said councillors were being asked to take decisions on the tram project without the full knowledge of the facts and without any consultation with the workforce of Lothian Buses. He added: "This is totally unacceptable and cannot continue. Councillors are under huge pressure to deal with this project, which has been a catastrophic waste of public money and, largely, a mess of their own making."

It emerged yesterday that Lothian Buses's profits had soared to more than 26m last year, with passenger numbers rising by around two million.

However, the city council has failed to reach a deal with the Scottish Government to breach a massive funding gap to get the project off the ground, with latest estimates ranging from 700m to 770m.

If councillors opt for the cheaper of the two options, and press ahead with a truncated line to Haymarket, the tram scheme will need a subsidy of around 4m a year from the city council, which is the majority shareholder in Lothian Buses.

Mr Renilson said: "The reality is that councillors will not only be voting on the future of the tram scheme, they will also be voting on the future of the city's bus services. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the tram scheme, spending public money on it was one thing, but wrecking the city's bus services is a step too far."

Meanwhile, Lothian Buses's boss Ian Craig said the "dark cloud on the horizon" for his company was the prospect of tramworks restarting on Princes Street. He said: "Without a doubt, if Princes Street does get dug up again there will be an impact in terms of service and financially."