Edinburgh tram opponents admit they must ‘face future’

The acknowledgement came as the city council revealed it had less than £20 million left unspent of its £776m tram budget.

Jock Miller, a member of the anti-tram West End Community Council, who joined the inaugural public tram ride, said: “We have got trams whether we like it or not.

“We have to face the future, not look to the past. We have to forget about the delays, and if construction can be completed early, that can only been a positive message.”

Mr Miller, who travelled over the two-mile completed section of line between the Gogar tram depot and Edinburgh airport, said the tram works had had a major impact on people in the west end, which had been linked to the closure of several businesses.

A spokeswoman for Ratho and District Community Council, which also took part in the first of eight such trips to be arranged by the council, said: “It was very pleasant and quite impressive - it’s bound to be more comfortable than a bus.”

Construction of the rest of the eight-mile route to York Place in the city centre is due to be finished by the end of the year and open for business in the summer of next year.

A total of £756.7m of the tram budget has been used up to the end of last month, including on the main construction contract, a report to today’s [Wed] governance, risk and best value committee shows.

This includes £28.7m of the £34m contingency fund, more than half of which has gone on the extra cost of moving underground pipes and cables from the tram route. The rest is for changes to the main building contract.The report also showed that £728m of the £742m base budget had been spent.

Conservative transport spokeswoman Joanna Mowat said the budget was now extremely tight, but she was “cautiously optimistic” it would be enough.West End Association chairman Michael Apter said: “It’s taken far too long. We need to move on as quickly as possible and remind people that we have got a beautiful city that we’re privileged to live and work in.”

Nearly £385m has been allocated to construction work, including £131m on settling claims and other changes from the bitter dispute between the council’s now-abolished tram firm Tie and the contractors’ consortium led by construction firm Bilfinger Berger.

A total of £86m has been spent on moving pipes and cables - one third of which outwith the main utilities diversion contract.

Transport convener Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “You only have to be out and about in Edinburgh to see the progress being made and I’m pleased to report that by June much of the road and track work will be complete. This means we can push on with a significant programme of work to install overhead and underground cables.

“The project remains in line with the revised budget and many sections are now ahead of schedule meaning the city will be much clearer for summer visitors and for festival season.”