TramForward has said it is ‘encouraged’ by UK Government Transport Minister Norman Baker’s interview on BBC Radio 4’s Face the Facts on ‘Edinburgh’s Trams Mind the Funding Gap’ on Wednesday 10th August.
Mr Baker referred to a review currently underway at his Department looking at means of bringing down the cost of tramway construction projects.
In a separate interview on the same programme two days earlier Mr Baker had cited the ‘excessive cost of moving utilities as a major factor in cost escalation’, as it was in Edinburgh.
He suggested that, combined with lighter track construction, moving all utilities ‘might not be necessary’.
Utility companies could be given access after the line had been built as required, the disruption to tram services could be minimised by greater use of crossovers to allow single track running and/or the use of temporary track, common in mainland Europe.
The first generation of tramways ‘ran without disruption on roads with utilities buried under the tramway track’, TramForward said.
Mr Baker was confident that the construction costs of tramways can be brought down and TramForward ‘eagerly awaits’ the publication of the Department for Transport report in the near future and hopes its findings will be of value not only to Edinburgh Council but Transport Scotland in helping clarify simpler construction methods and costs in Tramway and Light Rail Projects.
More specifically it could help identify further cost savings after the August Report to Edinburgh Council on Edinburgh Tram finance and funding.
