Leader: Edinburgh tram project limps into action

NEVER let politics get in the way of snatching kudos when you can. Anti-tram transport minister Keith Brown could hardly wait yesterday to clamber aboard the first passenger-carrying journey of the cursed Edinburgh project.

His scramble on to the tram triggered caustic comment from opposition politicians while perhaps being no surprise to City of Edinburgh Council leader Jenny Dawe, who has borne the brunt of the criticisms from the SNP with whom she is in uneasy coalition.

The response of Mr Brown after yesterday’s excursion was altogether cautious and tepid, though notably warmer than his previous observations of the project. “It was”, he said, “extremely smooth and accessible for people with disabilities and prams.” Not quite joy unbounded, then.

The long-delayed journey took place on a 470-metre test track at the Gogar tram depot – no longer than the line used by heritage trams at Summerlee, the Museum of Scottish Industrial Life at Coatbridge in Lanarkshire. It marked the completion of the depot and tram control centre and its handover to the council, now in charge of the scheme. The public will have to wait at least two-and-a-half years for the £776 million experience. The eight-mile line between Edinburgh Airport and St Andrew Square will not open until mid-2014.