Edinburgh Tram - Hell on Wheels

I don't normally get excited about local issues, but the Edinburgh Tram fiasco caught my eye, but then, only as a by-the-way. Honestly, I could not care less.

For those who do not know, the proposal to build a Tramline from Edinburgh Central to the Airport, and originally, other lines, has stalled due to a dispute between the contractors and the local council. Indeed, the Tram will be literally gerry-built. Currently, the contractors have downed tools. Bilfinger Berger, for it is they, have been described by yet another outgoing Chairman as a "delinquent contractor".

At the bottom of this, in my opinion, is a project that should never have happened in the form it has taken. Firstly, Bilfingers massively underbid, which should have rung warning bells, and secondly, large infrastructure projects like this should have been overseen by the Westminster government and not left it to local councillors who are clearly out of their depth.

The Herald declares:

The citizens and business community of Edinburgh and Scotland’s taxpayers are heading towards a grim choice between a tram link so truncated that it will require a permanent public subsidy and scrapping the whole project – the equivalent of throwing £400m into holes in the ground.

Meanwhile, don't try driving around Edinburgh. The place is a disaster area.

PS, this is not the only massive waste of public money. "The Gathering" a silly nationalist idea that tried to boost tourism got a secret government loan of £180,000 to the company that ran it and later went bust with debts of £700,000.