The other side of the tracks...

If you want a piece of entertainment - jump into an Edinburgh taxi and mention trams! To be fair, stop anyone in the street, and the reaction would be much the same.

The last trams ran in Edinburgh in 1956. The plan was to restore them to the city as a clean and prestigious people mover!

But the story so far:

The project phase one was meant to be completed by 2011. The latest estimate is 2014.

The projected cost is £600 million - that's £600,000,000. The original cost projection was £498 million. (£102 million pounds adrift to date.)

Phase one has already been butchered with plans for large sections of track now mothballed.

Phase two and Phase three are currently being laughed off court.

One estimate says that the carbon cost of actually doing the work will take 40 years to zero even with the green trams running normally.

The Scottish Government has said it will contribute £375 million - and not a penny more. In effect saying to the City of Edinburgh Council - "you are digging the holes in the road - so you just jump in!" Meantime the Council is cutting services.

And - guess what - the Tram Company and the Contractors have been in dispute since February 2009. All work is currently suspended. The Independent Arbiter has ruled in favour of the Contractor on most points, and awarded them an additional £80 million.

AND, OF COURSE, TRAMS ARE IN PRINCIPLE A GOOD IDEA - AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT HAVE DONE THEIR BEST! No question - but at the same time we just can't afford this disaster.

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. (Julius Caesar III, 2)