Trams are due, depot is barely built..but chiefs insist all is well

And while it is obvious to passers-by that the building is barely a shell, a spokeswoman for the project insisted the majority of outstanding work was the "fit out of the building".

Claims that work is still on track at the site come amid more bad news for the embattled scheme.

Council officials have admitted for the first time that the project is set to go over budget, with a new report stating there is a "strong probability" that the cost of the trams will be more than the 545 million of funding identified.

The same report puts progress on the depot at just 19 per cent complete – with the first trams set to arrive next month.

When contacted by the Evening News, however, a spokeswoman for Edinburgh Trams insisted all was well. "The progress on the depot is going well and the structure now has walls, floors and the roof in place," she said.

"The remaining 81 per cent is made up primarily of the fit out of the building, which includes all the plant and equipment. Tram vehicles are not intended to go to the depot when they arrive anyway, as they will be put on public display."

The original business plan for the project shows that tram chiefs had hoped to have the depot almost finished by this point of the project, with a test track up and running by April.

However, it is now looking increasingly likely that the trams will have nowhere to go when they arrive in the Capital. Plans are still under discussion to send them to Croydon for testing instead, as previously revealed by the News.

Meanwhile, it emerged today there is also much to do on other sections of the off-road work, placing major doubts over suggestions that the part of the route between the airport and Haymarket could be open as early as next year.

John Carson, a former head of maintenance at Network Rail and a long-standing critic of the trams, said the figures confirmed his belief that work on some parts of the route were running two years behind schedule. He said: "There was never going to be any place to put the trams when they arrive and now it looks as if the depot won't be built for another two years. To finish this project even on time they will need the goodwill of the contractor, but if they think they can finish it ahead of schedule in 2011, they're kidding themselves."

When the News approached tram firm TIE for clarification that the depot work was "progressing well", a spokesman admitted the walls of the building were "almost complete", saying: "As a point of clarification, it is correct that we have completed 19 per cent of the work, and a lot of that has been drainage and access work.

"The cladding of the building is almost complete, with two sections at either end still to be carried out. Most of the volume of work now is fitting interior walls, adding the large sliding doors at either end of the building and fitting the electrics, before fully fitting out the building.

"We have completed 19 per cent of the work. We would have liked to be further on at this stage, but this is where we are."

HOW MUCH OF THE WORK IS COMPLETE?

Haymarket viaduct - 42 per cent

Gogarburn bridge - 85 per cent

Depot building - 19 per cent

Edinburgh Park viaduct - 87 per cent

Carrick Knowe bridge - 44 per cent

Russell Road retaining wall - 17 per cent

Track laying on guided busway - 70 per cent

Report reveals sorry tale of slow progress

THE update on the progress of the tram project is contained in a report to the council's tram sub-committee, which is due to meet next week for the first time since last August. The Evening News previously revealed how the sub-committee, set up to scrutinise the project, had met just twice in the last year.

A report signed off by council director of finance, Donald McGougan, and city development director Dave Anderson notes that "fundamental differences" remain between tram firm TIE and its contractors on a number of design issues. It states: "The commercial and contractual difficulties with BSC (Bilfinger Siemens CAF) have been well publicised.

"TIE Ltd, with the support of their stakeholders, are engaged in a number of workstreams with a view to providing greater certainty in terms of cost and programme delivery."

It adds: "At this stage, there is now a strong probability that the project cost out-turn will exceed the available approved funding."

Meanwhile, an update on the ongoing utility diversions, the first phase of the works, shows TIE believe they are now 97 per cent complete and should be ready by September.

And it has emerged that tram bosses are to ditch the original livery to replace it with a mainly white design, incorporating the traditional madder colour associated with Lothian Buses.