Fresh trams blow as track laying delayed

EDINBURGH'S troubled tram project has been dealt a new blow after it emerged the laying of the first tram tracks in the capital has been put off for at least three months.

Businesses on Leith Walk had been told to expect their long-awaited arrival on the thoroughfare by the end of this month.

But the city council, which took delivery of the first tracks in November, has admitted the "milestone" of laying the first piece has been put back.

The Scotsman has learned it will not be until well after Easter that the first track is in place, despite earlier assurances from the council that a stretch had already been put in place on Leith Walk.

It has also emerged that the first tracks will instead be laid in Princes Street, despite Leith Walk being chosen for the first phase of the infrastructure project because of the amount of disruption local businesses have had to suffer.

Officials working on the project have admitted the timetable has had to be redrawn after traders on Leith Walk won agreement to suspend work over the festive season.

The latest setback for the tram project means the first tracks will not be in place until after the council has to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with an extension to the planned route on the city's waterfront.

Councillors have been warned they will need to rule by March on the Haymarket-Granton link spur, which is in doubt over a 50 million funding "black hole".

Insiders last night insisted the delay to the first tracks being laid did not mean the entire project was running three months behind schedule.

The news has emerged just days before the city council tries to close down the main junction of Princes Street at the Mound for a second time, months after a previous bid brought chaos to the city centre.

Princes Street, which is expected to be closed for most of this year from the middle of next month, is likely to see the first tracks laid in April.

The council's tram company TIE revealed last night that the closure of the Mound is planned to go ahead on Sunday.

A TIE spokesman said: "Due to the negotiated works embargo on Leith Walk over the festive period, TIE has amended the construction programme and allocated its resources to other parts of the route. This has resulted in a shift from the original position, where it was intended to install the first rails in Leith."

Gordon Burgess, chairman of the Leith Business Association, said:

"I would be very surprised if we see any tram rails on Leith Walk before June. That would mean we've had two years of holes being dug without a single stretch of track going down."