Rail cost fears

Rail enthusiast David Spaven (Letters, 17 September) says the uncosted new junction required with the East Coast Main Line at Portobello, which Borders trains will use, is totally unrelated to the runaway Borders expenditure. Arch-sceptic Brian Monteith (Perspective, 16 September) says it is an integral part.

This round goes to Mr Monteith, for not only did Transport Scotland’s (TS) adviser, the company Cyril Sweett, explicitly identify this major junction re-engineering as a consequence of the Borders project in its August 2007 review, but TS also linked it to the Borders scheme in its 2009 Projects review.

In 2011, TS stated that another major engineering task for Borders rail, the Falahill bridge, would be absorbed within the costs of the line. Last week it appeared to have admitted that this troubled aspect of the scheme will be redefined as a roads budget expense after all.

So, in reality, several major costs are being recategorised (or information redacted) such that the public cannot know the true and horrendous overrun directly attributable to the rail scheme.

On current forecasts (which were uprated to reflect recent trends) the line will actually cost considerably more than the  £353 million on the clock today (more than five times the original estimate), and will have annual ticket revenues of less than 1 per cent of its cost.

Taxpayers, be very, very afraid.

Peter Smaill

Borthwick

Midlothian