Off-track

It is astonishing to learn that Edinburgh councillors were kept in the dark over the ongoing tram fiasco (your report, 8 September), particularly as when the SNP group again moved that the tram scheme be scrapped due to the lack of detail on costs, timescales and risks involved on 30 April 2009, the other parties did not even support calls for a report on the costs and timescales.

Labour was in power at both government and council level when the original contracts were signed and set up Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) to manage the tram project. Also, TIE’S day to day operation from 2007 to 2012 was supposedly overseen by the one Labour, one Tory and two Lib Dem councillors who were appointed board members.hopefully the inquiry will not be a whitewash and will elicit full disclosure from all those involved in signing the tram contract, including Bilfinger Berger’s pre-contract cost assessment.

MARY THOMAS

Watson Crescent, Edinburgh