City may cancel contract as tram stalemate adds to delays

Published on Sunday 21 February 2010 22:03

THE man charged with delivering Edinburgh's controversial trams scheme last night admitted there was now a stalemate over a long-running dispute with its main contractor.

Richard Jeffrey, head of the city council's tram firm TIE, and a keynote speaker at today's conference, admitted there was "no sign of a breakthrough" in the acrimonious dispute with a German-led consortium which has been dragging on for a year.

Speculation is mounting that within weeks the city is set to cancel the contract headed by Bilfinger Berger, which is reported to be seeking an extra 80 million over a string of delays and unforeseen problems.

Legal wrangling over the financial disputes has caused even more delays, and there is still no sign of work to lay tracks on key thoroughfares like Shandwick Place or Leith Walk.

Work on the network had been due for completion by January 2011, to allow trams to start running in July 2011, before problems with the consortium emerged. Mr Jeffrey has already conceded that the start date could be pushed back to 2013.

He said: "The current state of affairs could not be further from how we would all wish to see this vital project delivered. Given the range of ongoing disagreements with the consortium, and the slow progress on-site, TIE's board has asked me to examine all the options available to us."