Edinburgh transport chiefs defend tram plans

THE introduction of trams on Edinburgh streets was staunchly defended by transport chiefs today in the wake of a scathing Westminster report into schemes across the UK.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said trams schemes had taken too long to get up and running, had not attracted as many passengers as forecast, and had ended up competing with other forms of public transport.

The committee - which looked at schemes in Manchester, Leeds, and South Hampshire - criticised the Government for not acting more quickly when problems started to appear.

It said the cost of building new tram systems had soared, with the estimated cost of phase 3 of the Manchester Metrolink rising from 282 million in July 2000 to 900m last year.

But Edinburgh transport leader Andrew Burns insisted today that the council would not repeat mistakes made south of the Border. He said Edinburgh had taken a different approach to the introduction of trams, including the introduction of park-and-ride sites.

"Edinburgh trams will be a key part of the high-quality integrated transport system for our city, which has been designed to integrate with other complementary travel modes," he said.

"We are fully aware of some of the reservations and concerns about tram schemes in England, and these have been specifically identified and addressed to ensure they don’t happen in Edinburgh.

"This means that we have taken a fundamentally different approach to areas such as financing, the form of operator engagement, and the integration of local bus services with trams."

"We have already agreed a framework with Lothian Buses to ensure that the trams will integrate with buses and have also ensured that the best routes and number of stops have been chosen, by undertaking complex modelling exercises and extensive public consultation.

"Park-and-ride sites will link directly to the tram routes and the main interchanges for trams in the city centre will be at Haymarket and St Andrew Square, ensuring that people can move easily from one transport mode to another."

Although the Scottish Executive insists the Westminster report does not apply to Scotland, there is likely to be renewed concern about the Edinburgh system.

City leaders have already scrapped plans for a third tram line following the rejection of congestion charging, and ministers have ruled out any extra cash. The two other tram lines - a loop that will link the city centre with Leith and Granton and a line running from Haymarket to the airport and possibly Newbridge - are expected to start running within four years.

The Executive has committed 375m to the scheme but there is still a 98m shortfall.

The public accounts committee report says light rail and tram systems in England have not delivered all the expected benefits.

The Transport and General Workers Union’s transport national officer Graham Stevenson today urged local authorities to invest more in buses.

"We do want to see investment in public transport but some of the experiences of light rail and tram systems haven’t done this mode of transport many favours," he said.

Michael Howell, TIE limited chief executive, said: "We look forward to reading the account committee report in full and will respond when it is publicly available."