Busway doesn't work too well but, boy, is it innovative

Published on Tuesday 29 November 2005 14:50

IT has been forced to close twice for urgent repairs in less than a year and has received criticism from passengers for being too bumpy.

But the problems which have plagued Edinburgh's beleaguered guided busway project were last night ignored by transport experts who honoured the scheme for its "innovation".

Former Edinburgh transport convener David Begg presented the prize for the "most innovative transport project in Scotland" to his successor Andrew Burns at the Scottish Transport Awards in the city's Sheraton Hotel.

But today the award was ridiculed by opposition politicians who said the council's record on transport was nothing to be celebrated.

The Fastlink busway, a two-lane, 1.5km stretch of road from Stenhouse to Broomhouse, opened in December last year at a cost of 10 million, promising a "fast, modern bus service that will speed past traffic congestion".

The buses have specially adapted wheels which fit between rails on either side of the bus lane so they can slip on to the guided busway, avoiding traffic jams on the adjoining roads.

But users complained the ride was too rough, and the busway was forced to close for repairs in July so that bumpy tracks could be smoothed out. And it closed for a second time earlier this month, re-opening just a few days ago.

Community leaders said it had been "one disaster after another" and branded it "a liability".

The city's Tory transport spokesman Allan Jackson said today the award was "absolute madness".

He said: "The guided busway in itself is a reasonably good idea, but it took the council a long time to get there. It was innovative about ten years ago. Still, it was David Begg's idea in the first place so he will be keen to hand out gongs to the people who have managed to get a bit of it working.

"But the idea Edinburgh is managing to do anything good or clever is ludicrous. They squander millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on every hare-brained scheme that comes up.

"There was CERT, which never got off the ground; then there were the road tolls which we now know cost over 9m and the public threw them out; and then the Central Edinburgh Traffic Management scheme, a lot of which is having to be reversed.

"I would not even invite them to a transport awards ceremony, never mind give them prizes.

"They should start by repairing some of the pavements people are tripping on and work up from there."

And Liberal Democrat councillor Fred Mackintosh said the busway could yet prove a white elephant.

"It is an idea of its time - unfortunately its time was 1995 and it took so long to happen we have all become very cynical about it.

"I just don't want the trams to end up like the busway."

The awards were organised by the Centre for Transport Policy at Robert Gordon University, where Mr Begg is director.

The judging panel was made up of Tom Hart, chairman of the Scottish Transport Studies Group; Jonathan Pryce, head of transport division at the Scottish Executive; and Dr David Gray, of the Centre for Transport Policy.

The judges said of the busway: "The high quality infrastructure enhances the image of public transport, reduces congestion, offers better service to the community and underpins economic development."

Councillor Burns said: "This award is justified recognition for a real team effort from staff at the council, TIE Limited and Lothian Buses, who worked extremely hard to deliver the UK's longest section of guided busway on time and on budget. Fastlink is proving such a popular service due to the time-saving that regular passengers receive on their journey to the city centre, and yesterday's award underlines just what a difference the busway has made."

West Lothian Council won Transport Team of the Year award for its 81m programme of investment in roads and footpaths. Audit Scotland found the area had the best-maintained roads in Scotland.