Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Trams in Edinburgh...

Princes Street, Edinburgh World Heritage Site as it is currently - a mess

An artist's impression of the trams; note poles and wires, although in some cases the wires will be attached to historic buildings, owners have little choice...

Well, I said it here on Monday, and today it's confirmed: trams in Edinburgh will not be delivered on budget or on time.

According to the Scottish press today:


Trams not on budget and not on time

May 20th

EDINBURGH'S beleaguered trams system is today officially confirmed as being behind schedule and over budget.

Richard Jeffrey, the new chief executive of tram firm TIE, has conceded the mammoth task of delivering a showpiece tram line through the heart of the city will not now be completed as originally planned in July 2011.

Slim hopes that it might just be completed within its original £512 million budget have also finally been scuppered...


http://news.scotsman.com/edinburghtransportplans/Trams-not-on-budget-and.5283368.jp


Can politicians be trusted to get anything right?

From The Sunday Times
May 3, 2009

Edinburgh tram sham is a warning to other cities
The much vaunted integrated transport system has never had mass approval, so maybe it’s time to put it to the popular vote...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6210924.ece

It all sounded so good in theory, you know, like a Scottish Parliament building, a Millennium Dome, holding the Olympics in the UK and robbing vast amounts of Heritage Lottery cash to do it... oh I forgot, they didn't say that would happen at the time the bid was made, it's only later we find out just how much will be raided from the heritage pot...

1 comment:

hazel said...

For a major tourist City the state of Princess Street is dreadful - I wouldn't be impressed if I'd arrived from the US of A to see Historic men in kilts and stuff and the ain drag is a building site.