Decade of disruption, disputes and dithering – and it’s still far from over

May 2002: A company, Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (Tie), is formed to deliver transport projects for the council.

March 2003: Then Scottish Executive transport minister Iain Gray says Edinburgh will receive £375 million for the development of a tram network.

December 2003: Cost of the two tram lines is estimated at £473m, leaving a £98m shortfall.

January 2004: Two separate bills for tram lines are introduced in the Scottish Parliament.

February 2005: Edinburgh’s failed congestion charging referendum means a planned third tram line to the south of the city is scrapped.

February 2006: It emerges that a second tram line, linking Haymarket and Granton, is likely to be shelved due to funding problems.

March 2007: First work on Edinburgh’s tram project gets under way in Leith, with the scheme due for completion in February 2011.

May 2007: SNP forms minority administration at Holyrood and confirms plans to scrap Edinburgh’s airport-to-the-waterfront tram line.

June 2007: MSPs vote to press ahead with the trams, forcing the new SNP administration to hand over £500m rather than risk losing power.

May 2008: Final contracts for the project are signed off by the council and Tie.

February 2009: A dispute flares between Tie and the construction consortium just before work is due to start on Princes Street, amid claims the contractors are demanding more money.

March 2010: As the legal dispute drags on, reports emerge that Tie and the council have been warned the earliest start date for the trams has slipped to 2014.

October 2010: Council officials admit the first tram line will run only from Edinburgh Airport to St Andrew Square initially.

November 2010: Tie chairman David Mackay, who has led efforts to break the legal deadlock holding up the project, quits and describes parts of it as “hell on wheels”.

February 2011: An Audit Scotland report on the project calls for Transport Scotland to get involved in the project.

March 2011: Official mediation talks with the consortium finally get under way.

May 2011: Tie chief executive Richard Jeffrey resigns.

June 2011: Council leader Jenny Dawe’s Lib Dem group wins vote to press ahead with a curtailed tram line from the airport to St Andrew Square, after opposition groups are divided on their stance.

August 2011: Labour and Tories join forces to vote in favour of cutting back the line to Haymarket. Finance secretary John Swinney demands a rethink and threatens to withdraw final tranche of funding.

September 2011: Councillors overturn previous vote and back tram line to St Andrew Square with price tag of £776m. Scottish Government says it will now “oversee” the project.

Summer 2014: The new date when the trams are expected to start running.

BRIAN FERGUSON