Building Edinburgh’s tram system cost significantly more, and took years longer than originally expected, and now the enquiry into why it happened is going the same way.

The Scotsman newspaper reports that the 2021-22 Scottish Budget shows a further half a million pounds has been set aside for the enquiry work, pushing the overall cost to nearly £12 million.

The paper notes that the enquiry under Lord Hardie was announced in 2014 and its evidence sessions were completed more than two-and-a-half years ago, but there is no indication as to when the findings will be completed.

A spokesperson for Transport Scotland told the Scotsman, “The increase [in the 2021-22 budget] is because the prior year’s budget was informed by an early estimate the year before, which was based on the inquiry concluding that year.

“The inquiry has not yet completed and Lord Hardie continues to write the report.

“The funding covers the cost of this work, including a small support team and relevant advisers.”

The inquiry is investigating why the cost of the tram project increased from an £375m to around £1 billion and was completed years late in 2014 after an acrimonious dispute between its builders and a city council company leading the project.

(Picture – Yay Images)