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| Edinburgh tram inquiry announced | Edinburgh tram inquiry announced |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has announced a judge-led inquiry into the Edinburgh tram project, which was hit with delays and cost overruns. | Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has announced a judge-led inquiry into the Edinburgh tram project, which was hit with delays and cost overruns. |
| The trams started operating in the Scottish capital on Saturday. | The trams started operating in the Scottish capital on Saturday. |
| The 8.7-mile route, which cost £776m, runs from the city's New Town to Edinburgh Airport. | The 8.7-mile route, which cost £776m, runs from the city's New Town to Edinburgh Airport. |
| Its launch followed six years of disruption and problems, including a bitter dispute between the city council and its contractor. | |
| Speaking during first minister's questions in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Salmond said: "I am sure that everyone in Edinburgh, and indeed all over Scotland, will be delighted to see that the Edinburgh trams are fully operational and carrying passengers. | |
| "We cannot however lose sight of the considerable public concern over the conduct of the project, the disruption it has caused to households and businesses in the city of Edinburgh. | |
| "I have therefore recommended to the cabinet, and it has been decided to establish a judge-led public inquiry to inquire to establish why the project incurred significant overruns in terms of cost and timing, requiring in particular a significant reduction in the original scope." | |
| 'Risky' project | |
| The first minister, added: "There are lessons to be learned from the conduct of the Edinburgh trams project and I think the course of action we are proposing will be a substantial assistance in doing that." | |
| Mr Salmond was responding to a question from Marco Biagi, the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central and an opponent of the city's tram project. | |
| "All of us who opposed the trams project from the start as risky and over-engineered have been disappointed almost daily by being shown to be right," said Mr Biagi. | |
| "Now that the trams are indeed rolling, if there is to be any faith from the public in future management or potential cost estimates for projects like this, we need to know for sure that these mistakes will never be repeated". | |
| In the decade since the first money was allocated to the project, the price has doubled, the network has halved and it has taken twice as long to build as originally planned. | |
| Four years ago, a bitter dispute between Transport Edinburgh Limited, the arms-length company responsible for delivering the project, and main contractor Bilfinger Berger brought the whole project to a halt for months. |