Council still hell-bent on tram extension

Extending the tram network will cost a sum which you can guarantee will start with 'eye-watering' says Sue Webber

Figures like £2 billion are bandied around like it’s Monopoly money, and from what I can see its supporters are full of confidence because the completion of the three-mile stretch from York Place to Newhaven “only” cost £207 million. And that didn’t include the rolling stock or hardware because that had already been bought. Nor did it take into account the years of disruption which forced Leith Walk traders to the wall before the first attempt was abandoned because the money ran out.

However, I understand there is diminishing enthusiasm amongst councillors for digging up the Roseburn Path to Ferry Road, which means the dream of a tram to the new district springing up in Granton will probably remain just that because of the complexity – and cost – of strengthening the nearly 200 year-old Dean Bridge. And I’ll bet it would take more than the two years it took the Georgians to build it.

A consultation on the plan to run a line from Granton to the Bioquarter, and further, will start in mid-August, and guess what, even that is behind schedule because it was supposed to start about now. It appears it was only belatedly realised that a 12-week consultation running from spring would run into the holiday season, so it was put back. Not that public opinion makes much difference.

Sue Webber is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Lothian