Deadline for tram (singular) put back two years, but Embra "open for business" (see below)


Mind thon tram (singular) that we were going to get in 2010?  The replacement for the number 22 bus that will take you from a shopping centre in Leith to a park and ride car park in the middle of nowhere?  It was going to cost thruppence ha'penny and be up and running about, ooh, now.

But then it all started to go a wee bit pear shaped.  Yes. in the finest tradition of Scotch public sector building projects (hallo, Holyrood), it turned oot that it was gauntae cost slightly more than originally planned.  A few hundred million more than planned.  Oh, and then it was gauntae be a wee bit late.  Aye, turns oot we could expect the tram (singular) aboot 2011.

Ah, but there was a problem.  It wisnae gauntae cost that after all. It was much more than that.  And the cooncil tax payers would be paying for the new number 22 for hunnerds of years tae come.  Oh, and it's no gauntae be 2011.  It'll be 2012.

Although seeing as how all the small businesses in Leith were going bust thanks to the roads being dug up for years, it was a wee bit unclear how the newly unemployed were supposed to pay their cooncil tax.  Oh, yes.  They'll get cooncil tax rebate, which will be paid for by the dwindling number of people still paying it.

Anyway, turns oot that 2010 / 2011 / 2012 was a wee bit optimistic.  It's now gauntae be 2014.  I dinnae ken what happened to 2013.  Mebbe they thought that would be unlucky.

Seems that the contractors are refusing to lay the tracks, due to a contractual dispute over design changes and costs.  Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we supposed to learn lessons from the Holyrood fiasco.  You know, the one where costs increased tenfold yet not a single person lost their job.  I can only assume that all the eejits who worked on that project are now employed by the cooncil on the tram (singular).

Gordon McKenzie, the cooncil's transport convener, said: "Across the project we're looking for three per cent progress per month and getting less than one per cent. It's very disappointing." Which may be the understatement of the century.

Here's hoping they put Mr McKenzie and the TiE team in charge of the new Forth bridge.  With their skill set, I reckon that should be ready for aboot 2099.

A scandal and a disgrace.