Salmond steers Capital towards guided buses

Published on Friday 1 June 2007 12:04

ALEX SALMOND has signalled the new SNP government is considering a guided busway as an alternative to part of Edinburgh’s tram scheme.

But tram backers dismissed the idea as failing to deliver the modern, integrated public transport system needed in the Capital.

The First Minister did not go into details, but it is thought any plan would involve creating guided lanes on off-road sections of the proposed tram route between Haymarket and the airport.

At his first First Minister’s Questions, Mr Salmond promised a full review of the 592 million tram scheme would be presented to parliament. But he told MSPs the SNP favoured alternatives such as “guided bus lanes on much of the planned tram route” as well as incentives for the use of hybrid fuels and improved ticketing, installation of real-time information on all bus stops and better park-and-ride sites.

“We believe these measures offer a real alternative to the current trams proposal,” he said.

But city transport leader Phil Wheeler said a guided busway was not a practical solution. He said: “Trams go faster and carry three times as many people as a bus.”

And Edinburgh Labour group leader Ewan Aitken said: “This shows the SNP does not have a clue about how you make radical change in transport provision.”

“A guided busway is a second-best retread and in no way can provide the capacity required to make the step change in public transport provision we need. All the evidence shows trams attract people who would not otherwise use public transport. A guided busway would not do that.”

Plans for a 50m guided busway between Edinburgh city centre and the airport were abandoned six years ago – and SNP frontbencher Kenny MacAskill was one of the most vocal critics of the plans, claiming it was obsolete technology which had been abandoned everywhere else.

He said at the time: “Edinburgh seems to be the only place daft enough to go down this route.

“What we are being asked to do is spend a lot of money for a fancy bus that runs on an ugly bit of concrete. Let’s bin it and concentrate on more realistic solutions such as tramways and investment in rail links.”

Today Mr MacAskill, MSP for Edinburgh East & Musselburgh, denied his past comments were an embarrassment. He said: “Things have changed. Times have moved on. It’s horses for courses.”

Edinburgh does have a 1.5km stretch of guided busway between Stenhouse and Broomhouse, opened in 2004 at a cost of 14m. 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.

Guided busways along the off-road parts of the proposed tram lines were evaluated at the start of the project but were discounted in favour of trams.

Neil Renilson, chief executive of Transport Edinburgh Limited – the firm set up to run Edinburgh’s trams and buses – said: “The civil engineering work required for a guided busway is the same as that needed for a tramway.

“For example, the plan is to replace the existing west Edinburgh guided busway with trams by laying rails and erecting an overhead power supply on exactly the current alignment.

“The key question is not whether it is technically possible – clearly it is – the real question is whether it’s the right thing to do?”

Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said she would consider tabling a no-confidence motion in Mr Salmond if he ignored the will of parliament over trams. She said: “I would never take the decision lightly, but if I thought their reasons for ditching the trams were entirely political, that would be cause for a no-confidence vote.”

Meanwhile, the SNP today faced demands to explain how it plans to pay for the new Forth crossing once tolls are scrapped on the current bridge after MSPs to abolish all tolls on the Forth and Tay road bridges.

MSPs yesterday voted to abolish all tolls on the Forth and Tay road bridges. Legislation will be introduced in September and is expected to be passed by the end of the year.

But the move leaves an 11 million funding gap in the budget for repairs and maintenance and narrows the options for financing the new crossing.