Tramtragedy
It is with some amazement and incredulity that in a week when all Edinburgh tram services have been cancelled, I read of proposals for a massive tram extension. Based on the embarrassing experience to date and Edinburgh Council’s total inability to successfully manage any of the tram works thus far, one can only shudder at the potential cost and duration of the consequent chaos. What is the current status of the originally proposed scheme? I have lost track but it must be ten years late, three times over budget and only delivering approximately 75 per cent of what was proposed. It seems clear that this foolish folly is being pursued under a directive from the propped-up SNP government under the guise of a Rapid Mass Transport dream. Well, the trams might be capable of mass transportation, if and when they are eventually running and people wish to return to being transported in such a way, but rapid they most definitely are not.
As for extending the tram network to West Lothian really? The more sensible answer to me is to fix the pothole-ridden roads properly and fast track the delivery of divertible hydrogen buses and their supporting infrastructure in a phased and managed way to meet the Green imperative. They are available now and don’t require rails, will be carbon beneficial immediately and more than likely won’t be stopped by a couple of days ofsnow.notonlythat,theycan also be used anywhere within the scheduled service areas. Flexibility is what is needed in an expanding city with an uncertain future.
Time for a rethink that doesn’t involve digging up the city, incurring a huge carbon deficit in the process and disrupting everyone’s lives and bankrupting all of those businesses in the proximity of the proposed works. Why don’t they consult with Aberdeen where they are now operating the first double decker hydrogen powered buses in the world, in the European oil capital? What is being proposed will make Edinburgh the place to avoid for the next 15 years. I despair.
ANDREW MACNIE Craighall Terrace, Edinburgh