Tram contract awarded to outsider

THE £50 million contract to build Edinburgh's trams has been awarded to an outside bidder, in what experts have described as a "high-risk" strategy.

The Basque firm CAF has won the race to build and deliver the trains, which are planned to run between the airport and Newhaven from 2010. It is the first such contract for the company in Britain.

The decision has astonished rival firm Alstom, which has manufactured trams for most of Europe's capital cities, including Dublin, Paris and Madrid.

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A total of 27 trams are needed for the route between Edinburgh Airport and Newhaven and they will be capable of carrying 250 passengers at up to 44mph.

Howard Johnston, the editor-in-chief of Tramways and Urban Transit magazine, said the spiralling costs of the 600 million scheme could have be a factor in the decision. "It is certainly a surprising choice," he said. "CAF has won over an established supplier which dominates the marketplace. The Edinburgh scheme can only succeed if it balances the books, so cost is obviously an issue.

"Choosing an outsider could be a high-risk strategy, but equally this could be the chance for CAF to show what it can achieve."

Specifications in the contract show that Edinburgh's trams will be the longest and widest in the UK - four times the length of a bus - and will see two-thirds of passengers having to stand, a far greater proportion than in Edinburgh's buses.

CAF's only previous involvement in UK rail projects has been a joint venture with Siemens in building trains for the Heathrow Express in the 1990s and a recent order for diesel trains in Northern Ireland. It has built subway trains in Mexico and Rome and trams in Bilbao.

Willie Gallagher, the chairman of Transport in Edinburgh (TIE), the council-backed firm in charge of the project, said the CAF bid came in slightly under the budgeted costs and the savings could be diverted to other parts of the 545 million scheme.

He said: "I need to make clear that we have not sacrificed quality for price in this deal. We laid down the gauntlet to the world's tram manufacturers and CAF has delivered.

"The competition was intense, which drove the bidders to submit fantastic bids. It was a tough decision, but I believe that we are recommending the best bid for Edinburgh."

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Neil Renilson, the chief executive of Transport Edinburgh Limited, the company which will operate the trams and Lothian Buses from 2010, said: "It is crucial that the tram system fits seamlessly with the current public transport network, and I am fully convinced that the CAF trams will do just that."

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