Labour rules out any more cash for city's troubled tram project

SCOTTISH Labour leader Iain Gray has ruled out any additional funding for Edinburgh's beleaguered trams scheme if his party returns to power after next year's Holyrood election.

Business leaders in the capital yesterday heard Mr Gray pledge to deliver the new Forth Road Bridge and reinstate the axed rail link to Glasgow Airport.

But despite claiming Edinburgh was suffering due to the problems with its long-delayed tram project, Mr Gray refused to offer the troubled scheme a lifeline.

Speaking to The Scotsman after his address to Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce members, Mr Gray described the handling of the project as "a tragedy", but insisted the onus was on the city council to get the scheme up and running - even though the local authority is facing a funding gap of almost 100 million.

The council faces having to roll out the scheme in phases and borrow tens of millions of pounds due to the funding black hole and the soaring cost of the project, raising the prospect of some parts of the city, such as Leith and Newhaven, suffering years of disruption without any benefit.

The council's tram company TIE is also locked in a dispute with its main contractor, which is expected to lead to the final bill rising again within months.

The current SNP administration at Holyrood has refused to increase the 500m grant for the tram project, which was voted through by opposition parties after the last election against the will of the Nationalists.

Mr Gray was transport minister when the trams received initial support, to the tune of 375m, from the then Scottish Executive in 2003. He said the project had been fully-funded when it was initially approved by the Scottish Parliament, but that the project had been handled "disastrously" by the Lib Dem-SNP administration running the city council.

City transport leaders last night said it was "premature" to discuss the prospect of additional government support for the trams while they were exploring options for what parts of the proposed scheme are affordable and potential timescales.

Mr Gray's told yesterday's meeting that Edinburgh was facing a "triple whammy" due to the impact of the economic downturn on its banking sector and financial services, crippling rises in business rates, and the lack of major capital projects being delivered in the city.

He said an incoming Labour administration would try to turn back some of the "wrong decisions" made by the SNP while it was in power, including re- instating the Glasgow Airport rail link, and pledged it would take a fresh looking at how the new 2 billion Forth Road Bridge should be funded.But he was not prepared to commit to a review the funding of the tram project.

Mr Gray told The Scotsman: "The management of the project has been a disaster and the SNP- Lib Dem administration on the council has got a great deal to answer for.

"I'm not going to give a commitment for any additional funding and am not making any other promises about the trams. I want to see this project delivered, I think the vast majority of businesses in the city also do, but it's up to the council to do that. If they can't deliver it, they will have to explain themselves to the city."

Gordon Mackenzie, the council's transport leader, said: "I believe that we can deliver the scheme within the current funding envelope, we are looking at various contingency options at the moment, and a report will be brought back to the council in October. We don't have any plans to ask for any additional government funding at the moment."