Trams must go all the way to the end of the line, say business chiefs

Published on Monday 2 May 2011 15:47

BUSINESS leaders in Scotland's capital will support moves to secure extra funding to ensure Edinburgh's troubled tram project is completed, The Scotsman can reveal.

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce has said "every avenue should be explored" to ensure the first phase of the project links Edinburgh airport with the city's waterfront - despite fears there will not be enough money to reach even the city centre.

It is thought the city council will struggle to find the funding to get trams running to the Haymarket area, with the price tag for such a line thought to be at least 600 million, and with only 500m of Scottish Government money on the table.

However, despite claims by all parties that no extra government support should be provided for the long-delayed project, the chamber believes funding needs to be found to ensure trams run to both the city centre and the capital's waterfront.

Graham Birse, deputy chief executive of the chamber, said: "Our position, despite the difficulties that this project has had, is that we want to see it completed. That has not changed.

"There is absolutely nothing to be gained, for the city or the country, in cancelling this project after so much work has been carried out.

"We are still hopeful that an agreement may emerge from the current dispute.

"We want to see trams running all the way through the city centre and down to the waterfront and all possible avenues for funding, including extra support from the Scottish Government, should be explored."

The SNP has again insisted it will oppose any moves to secure extra Scottish Government funding for the project if it wins power again at Holyrood.

And the Greens yesterday became the latest party to express opposition to the government being asked to find extra cash for the project.

SNP candidate Kenny Mac-Askill said: "We have been quite clear in stating not a penny more should be provided for this project, which we've said for some time would become 'Holyrood on wheels'.

"It is a mess entirely of the council's own creation and it is for the council to sort out. I would rather see the project cancelled than any more money be thrown at it."

Alison Johnstone, who is standing for the Greens in the Lothians, said: "To put more government money on the table now would not be helpful. We need to see what the Lib Dem/SNP administration on the council can deliver with the existing funding."

When the then Scottish Executive approved Edinburgh's tram project in 2003, it awarded the city council 375m to create two tram lines serving the north and west of the city.

But by the time MSPs backed detailed plans for the two lines in 2006, the cost had soared to more than 500m.When this funding was secured the following year, the second line, between Granton and Haymarket, had been all but shelved.

The city council is expected to seek extra money after admitting privately that the project will cost a further 100m.

The local authority has been unable to resolve a bitter dispute with its main construction consortium.

Sources close to the project say councillors may be given another chance to cancel the whole project in the summer - despite more than 350m having already been spent.