AN inquiry established over nineyearsagotoinvestigatea five-yeardelayanda £400millionoverspendonthe projecttocreatetheEdinburgh Tramssystem, isestimatedto havecostmorethan£13million.
Chaired by Lord Hardie, a former Lord Advocate, it concluded in September, finding that there had been a “litany of avoidable failures on the parts of several parties”.
Lord Hardie cited failings by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (an arm’s length project management firm whollyowned by City of Edinburgh Council) as key to the inability to deliver on time and within budget, adding that the council also bore responsibility for design delays.
He said that the Scottish Government had lost oversight of the programme by withdrawing the involvement ofTransport Scotland officials.