Scrapping Edinburgh trams would cost £750m

[rail-britain]

It would appear the council have approved the completion to St Andrew Square
The meeting was adjourned to 06 July to allow the contractor more time to provide details of the additional costs
The additional funding was approved
The contractor has been set three deadlines for completion (St Andrew Square to Edinburgh Airport to be open by November 2013)

 

[WatcherZero]

http://twitter.com/#!/BBCDavidMiller Current meeting coverage in progress

Seems rumour was true that Croydon has decided to go for eastern european trams because Edinburgh wasnt offering long enough leases.

Some figures coming out is that if it was cancelled the Council would have to repay all the loans within a year (since their secured on the trams as a future asset), equal to 15% of the councils annual spending. Also to raise £100m more to continue the project council taxes would have to rise by 45%. So essentially their stuck relying on the national government or a private company to bail the council out as its screwed both ways.
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The councillors voted to continue the tramway to the square, still have to find the money from somewhere however.

 

[snail]

(since their secured on the trams as a future asset)

Since their what is secured?

 

[WatcherZero]

The borrowing to build the tram line was secured on the tramline itself as an asset (like a mortgage). If it had been cancelled the asset would no longer exist and the loans would be called in as they were no longer secured.

Edit:
The SNP government gave a £500m grant towards the scheme however this was financed through borrowing secured on the tramline as an asset. If the tramline is cancelled under a clause in the grant allocation Edinburgh council has to repay the £500m to the Scottish government so it can repay its creditors.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

So, July 2011, sees a new month...and a new horizon for this much maligned project, with some financial matters to finally be resolved.

The decision to carry on with the project was heavily featured in the television media this morning.

 

[90019]

I would assume this mean that the closure of Princes Street for 9 months to repair the tramlines AGAIN is going ahead then.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I would assume this mean that the closure of Princes Street for 9 months to repair the tramlines AGAIN is going ahead then.

Surely, its only by closing Princes Street on a regular basis, for extended periods (and preferably at short notice), that residents will eventually come to be grateful for a functioning tram service?

I can't think of any other way of getting residents to appreciate the trams (as the system is curretly proposed).

 

[snail]

I would assume this mean that the closure of Princes Street for 9 months to repair the tramlines AGAIN is going ahead then.

I saw one report that said it would be closed whatever happened because the road structure has weather damage. The choice is either to repair the road under the tramlines or to reinstate it without them.

 

[kylemore]

It would appear the council have approved the completion to St Andrew Square
The meeting was adjourned to 06 July to allow the contractor more time to provide details of the additional costs
The additional funding was approved
The contractor has been set three deadlines for completion (St Andrew Square to Edinburgh Airport to be open by November 2013)

To be honest they might as well "decide" to complete it to the Moon!
What they hav'nt "decided" is where the money is going to come from.
A lot of Salmond's credibility is riding on maintaining a tough stance on this ill conceived project.

 

[Julia]

Councillors have today voted to scale the project back to Haymarket, in order to avoid further borrowing. Of note is that the political balance of the council has changed following a recent by-election...

 

[90019]

So, if the trams are ever finished, you'll have a choice when coming into the City Centre from the Airport;

• Take the Airlink express bus from the Airport direct to Waverley Bridge, right in the City Centre, or
• Take the tram to Haymarket, then change onto a bus to get into the City Centre.

:roll:

 

[WatcherZero]

Report earlier in the year itself said it was the difference between losing money to run the service and making a profit on the service.

 

[Eng274]

I ask a daft question - if the trams will no longer run to St Andrews Square for the foreseeable future, are the next ten months of the works on Princes Street actually necessary? It doesn't take ten months to re-surface a road that's barely a mile long.

So, if the trams are ever finished, you'll have a choice when coming into the City Centre from the Airport;

Take the Airlink express bus from the Airport direct to Waverley Bridge, right in the City Centre, or
Take the tram to Haymarket, then change onto a bus to get into the City Centre.

Much as I'd hate to see this scenario, I think the Airlink 100 will be canned (when the current fleet turns four years old and LB are cagey about reinvesting in new fleet/when the trams start/when LB is given the heave-ho by greedy b*stards BAA - whichever comes first), and passengers forced to use the trams to get *almost* to the city centre, and transferring to a normal bus for wherever they're actually going.

 

[T163R]

It would be more logical to open the Airport <> Haymarket (or Waverley ?) line...

 

[90019]

Much as I'd hate to see this scenario, I think the Airlink 100 will be canned (when the current fleet turns four years old and LB are cagey about reinvesting in new fleet/when the trams start/when LB is given the heave-ho by greedy b*stards BAA - whichever comes first), and passengers forced to use the trams to get *almost* to the city centre, and transferring to a normal bus for wherever they're actually going.

I'd be surprised if this does happen. In my experience the Airlink is a popular service and tends to be pretty well used, if they were to axe the 100, I reckon it wouldn't be long before one of the other operators started running it instead.