Trams project will come to nothing, predicts Salmond

Published on Tuesday 12 April 2011 20:57

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has predicted that the millions of pounds spent on Edinburgh's tram scheme will produce "nothing at all".

&#149 Alex Salmond

The controversial 545m project, which was meant to be up and running by now, has been mired for months by a bitter dispute between the council and contractors. Work has virtually halted. And official figures show 72 per cent of the construction work remains to be done, with just 38 per cent of the budget left.

Council chiefs insist they plan to press on with the project, but Mr Salmond has now added his voice to those sceptical about whether the trams will ever become a reality. His comment came at a hustings last night, featuring all five Scottish party leaders, organised by the Federation of Small Businesses at Our Dynamic Earth.

After Labour leader Iain Gray criticised the Scottish Government for signing the contract for the new Forth Road Bridge during the election period, Mr Salmond said: "I think most people in Scotland will welcome a fixed price contract 300m below the estimate. It does make a pleasant contrast with the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary under PFI which will end up costing ten times its capital cost, or the tram project, which will probably build nothing at all."

The SNP wanted to halt the tram scheme when it came to power in 2007, but the other parties united to save the project. At the beginning of the election campaign, Mr Salmond labelled Mr Gray "the Minister for Trams" because he was the Transport Minister who first announced the scheme in 2003.

Mediation talks took place between the council's trams firm TIE and the consortium of contractors led by Bilfinger Berger last month. A statement afterwards said there had been "constructive engagement" and the parties involved were "working together to firm up the framework for our future working arrangements and the successful delivery of the project".

But no further developments are expected until after the elections on May 5. The Scottish Parliament's public audit committee was told last month that under the terms of the government funding, Edinburgh could be obliged to pay back up to 500m if it is unable to complete the tram project.

Ainslie McLaughlin, director of major transport infrastructure projects at Transport Scotland, said: "Technically, the council could be obliged to pay back the money the Government paid out to the project if it is not completed."

n Labour today marked Climate Day, as Mr Gray and environment spokeswoman and Edinburgh Central candidate Sarah Boyack visited the City Car Club scheme, the largest car sharing scheme in Scotland. Later, ex-Chancellor Alistair Darling was due to join Mr Gray at a city supermarket to highlight rising household bills.