Alex Salmond Bides Time On Edinburgh Trams Inquiry

Alex Salmond Bides Time On Trams Inquiry

PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Alex Salmond is to hold a public inquiry into the beleaguered Edinburgh trams project - but not right away.

A spokesman for the First Minister said the inquiry would be held once there is "greater clarity" about the project.

The original budget for taking the line from Edinburgh airport to Newhaven was £545 million, but the cost of the tram project had grown steadily, with estimates for partial completion to St Andrew Square reaching more than £830 million.

The works have been dogged by delays and a dispute between contractors Bilfinger Berger and tram company Tie which has pushed the project over budget.

Councillors rejected official recommendations to take the controversial project from Edinburgh Airport to St Andrew Square in the centre of the city on Thursday, and backed a Labour amendment to take it only as far as Haymarket railway station in the west end.

The vote means the council will no longer need to borrow £231 million to partially complete the project into the city centre. The decision goes against advice by council officials that a tram line from the airport to Haymarket could be loss-making.

Officials warned that a tram line to Haymarket would require a £3 million to £4 million ongoing annual subsidy, which could also impact on the profitability of Lothian Buses. The First Minister was challenged to "stop dragging his feet" and get the public inquiry into the "fiasco" under way. In June Mr Salmond agreed to hold a full public inquiry into the trams project.

Scottish Labour Lothians MSP Kezia Dugdale said: "It is time to rise above party politics, stop the blame game and get to the bottom of the tram fiasco. A full, independent public inquiry is the only way we can find out exactly how the tram project has been allowed to go so badly wrong. I am pleased the First Minister has backed Labour's calls for a public inquiry but as Lord Fraser says there is no reason to delay getting the inquiry up and running."

A spokesman for the First Minister responded: "We will be delighted to have a public inquiry into the trams fiasco, and will do so once there is greater clarity about the direction of the project so that its full circumstances can be examined".

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie also called on the Finance Secretary John Swinney to review the decision by Edinburgh City Council to opt for the truncated line.

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