‘Big trams’ hiked costs, inquiry told
Tram firm TIE opted for longer vehicles, inquiry into project told
An engineer who worked on tram projects up and down the country has said Edinburgh’s decision to have longer trams than other cities could have driven up costs on the controversial project.
Jim Harries, who played a key role on tramway construction across the UK said the decision had led to “significantly more intrusive and costly infrastructure, with tramstops needing to be 10 metres longer.”
Edinburgh’s decision to have longer trams than other cities could have increased costs, an inquiry into the project has heard.
In written evidence to the inquiry, the former project manager of Transdev, which provided technical and operational advice, revealed that tram firm TIE had not accepted Transdev’s advice on the size of trams and instead opted for longer vehicles.
Jim Harries, who played a key role on tram projects in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield, London’s Docklands Light Railway and British Rail, said: “The original concept was to have ‘normal’ sized trams of about 30m length operating at eight trams per hour on the route to the airport, a service interval of one tram every 7.5 minutes.
“Lothian Buses argued that a service interval of ten minutes was needed in Edinburgh but their rationale was never made clear to me.
“Transdev argued against this from their experience elsewhere and from established tram business case principles. The decision was made at board level with no representation present from Transdev. Lothian Buses were present. Lothian Buses had their way.”
Mr Harries said he believed the decision had led to “significantly more intrusive and costly infrastructure, with tramstops needing to be 10m longer and having a greater impact on the city”.
He said it had also limited the available locations for tramstops and meant design constraints on the highway where longer trams could not be permitted to obstruct junctions .
Mr Harries also said a “demanding” Edinburgh public helped make the city the most challenging environment for trams he had known.
He said: “It’s a wonderful historic city and it wasn’t laid out with trams in mind. So putting a tram system through narrow streets in a very densely populated area will be challenging. It’s also a very historic city, with lots of wonderful buildings and heritage that we do not wish to disturb.
“The people of Edinburgh, compared with a lot of other cities, are probably more demanding and overall perhaps more educated than elsewhere. When you put those factors together, it results in very challenging environment for a tram project.”
He said other bodies, such as Forth Ports, the SRU and Edinburgh Airport, had also proved “demanding”: “I went to several public meetings, and it was hard work to convince everybody that we were doing the right thing.”