'Mature divorce' on cards in Capital trams dispute

Published on Wednesday 28 July 2010 19:31

CITY leaders say they expect a "mature divorce" over the Edinburgh tram project after an improvement in relations with contractors Bilfinger Berger.

A deal to bring the tram dispute to an end is expected to be on the table within days, it emerged today.

German contractor Bilfinger Berger is set to provide a full breakdown of the costs and timescales involved in the project by the end of this week. Tram bosses - who had hoped to receive the proposal in time for a TIE board meeting yesterday - admitted that the time that the process is taking is a "considerable frustration".

City leaders say that relations with Bilfinger have begun to show signs of improvement in recent weeks and they expect a first proposal on the "mature divorce" to be presented to them imminently.

They then expect to need to begin a bargaining process where they try to lower the cost of the options available.

Bilfinger chiefs are believed to be confident that the costings they provide will be accurate and are not expected to be willing to negotiate on them.

Full options on the way forward for the beleaguered scheme are due to be presented to councillors in September. Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, the city's transport leader, said: "We anticipated that we would have a first set of proposals this week. The week is not finished but we did not have them in time to discuss them at the tram project board meeting, but we still expect to see these proposals in the next few days.

"Overall, there are more positives than negatives - we've seen a substantial improvement in the approach taken by Bilfinger over the last six to eight weeks and that in itself is positive progress.

"Our legal and commercial position has strengthened in recent weeks."

The first proposal is likely to set out in detail the cost of building the line from the airport to Haymarket and on to York Place, as previously revealed by the Evening News. It will also put a figure on completing the entire line.

Bilfinger is said to have been acting in a more transparent manner and allowing TIE to see much more of the detail about its costings. Richard Jeffrey, managing director of Edinburgh Trams, said: "There are some key issues we will have to address in the next few weeks.

"The difficulties these issues may yet present should not be underestimated."