Tramworks back in days despite pleas by retailers

MAJOR tramworks are to resume on Edinburgh’s main thoroughfare within days following the reversal of a controversial move to curtail the first line of the troubled scheme on the outskirts of the city centre.

Motorists, commuters and retailers are facing nine months of disruption after council chiefs rejected a plea to put the start of work off until February, to avoid disrupting the start of the festive shopping season in the capital.

Council chiefs last night insisted it was crucial to get the project back on track as soon as possible in the wake of the U-turn following the Scottish Government’s threat to withdraw £72 million in funding unless the tram line went as far as St Andrew Square.

Although final agreement has still to be reached between the city council, the construction consortium building the tram system and the government, The Scotsman understands no major stumbling blocks have emerged since last Friday’s special meeting of the council.

Gordon Mackenzie, the city’s transport leader, said: “We are still in negotiations with the contractor, but it is pretty much back on track now. We are not anticipating any problems with Transport Scotland, which had signed up to a St Andrew Square tramline, or the government, who had supported that.”

The council has been given until Wednesday to agree a new programme and costs with the German-led consortium, which was originally supposed to be building a line to the city’s waterfront.

The work on Princes Street will largely rectify faults discovered following a previous nine-month closure of the thoroughfare to lay tram rails in 2009 and is being carried out at the cost of the consortium.

The work, now due to start on Monday, 19 September, had originally been due to get underway in July and continue throughout the festivals, only for it to be postponed due to uncertainty over the fate of the tram project.

A new start date of 5 September then had been to shelved at the 11th hour due to the council’s surprise vote in favour of curtailing the first line at Haymarket.

Council chief executive Sue Bruce said: “It’s essential for the project that we begin work soon, and for everyone in the city centre the certainty that it will be finished as soon as practicable is important. A huge amount of effort has gone into this and all parties are working hard to ensure we make headway for the short and long-term benefit of the city.”

Michael Apter, chair of the West End Traders Association, said: “It’s disappointing that the council and their contractor felt unable to respond favourably to a reasonable request made by the business community at the recent council meetings.

“This decision will undoubtedly impact on footfall, turnover and profitability at a extremely difficult point in the economic cycle for many businesses.”

However, Gordon Henderson, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “These works have been planned and discussed for a long time now, they’ve got to be done and we hope they will now be completed as fast as possible.”