Letters: Tunnel vision could help dig project out of a hole

There is a fourth option which officials are not putting forward - complete to Haymarket and then use that as the nucleus, as a first stage, of a light rapid transit/mini-tram/metro mixed-use network connecting the Waterfront direct to Haymarket and the airport, via line 1b.

The existing Scotland Street tunnel would provide very rapid connection from the Waterfront to Waverley, and could be extended later to the south-east development area.

With a north-south line in tunnel under the city centre, Princes Street could be pedestrianised - as it effectively was when the tram lines were laid. Put the buses on George Street and use the tram lines for a battery-operated tourist/shopper shuttle service - a Princes Street renaissance!

Council officials should be instructed to go back to the drawing board and councillors advised that there is a fourth option which would utilise nearly all the fixed assets built to date. All it needs is a bit more vision, and the co-operation of Parliament to amend the Tram Act.

John Duncan, Rose Street North Lane, Edinburgh

Should this be our burden alone?

There's a transport project which is three years late and three times over budget. No, not the trams but the 692 million M74 extension in Glasgow which opened this week.

As the costs of that five-mile stretch of motorway spiralled I don't recall the citizens of Glasgow being told by the Scottish Government that they alone would have to shoulder the extra costs.

Whatever the pros and cons (and remember that the M74 inquiry was critical of the case for the motorway) there was a view that a major transport project in the heart of our largest cities is of national importance.

Now, of course, the trams project in Edinburgh has been disastrously mis-managed. But that's no reason for the Scottish Government to wash its hands of it. And that also begs the question as to whether the future of trams is solely a decision for the people of Edinburgh?

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

Duck and dive, but facts remain

I CANNOT believe that Steve Cardownie is calling for a referendum on the tram project now. If a referendum was to be held it should have been four or five years ago, not now when more than 400 million has been spent on the project.

Frank Russell, Broomhouse Crescent, Edinburgh

Building block to link key areas

WHILE Neil Renilson was chief executive of Lothian Buses and TEL, he signed off the original business plan for trams and I find it strange he now has such little faith in the refreshed version (News, June 29).

A public transport system based solely on bus services is not a recipe for the continued economic growth of our city. As the population grows, our largest employers will increasingly rely on an efficient, reliable public transport system to ensure that the workforce is able to access the key development areas in West Edinburgh, the City Centre, the Waterfront and South East Edinburgh.

If the council so chooses, the line from the airport to St Andrew Square will be the first building block, linking two of those four key areas and connecting our major transport hubs.

However much affection people feel for their traditional bus service, providing trams on key routes brings about the step change necessary to bring about significant modal shift from private to public transport. Trams also act as a catalyst for major inward investment.

Given the capacity constraints, we cannot expect to meet the future demand for transport by putting more buses on our busy arterial routes.

This would bring about a vicious circle of decreasing the quality and reliability of one of our city's great assets.

Sue Bruce, chief executive, Edinburgh City Council