Wednesday, May 23, 2007

An Administration in Training

The Waverley line is back in the BBC news with Christine Graham the SNP MSP for the South of Scotland saying. "What the SNP is opposed to is that particular railway link (the airport line) - not a link between Edinburgh and the airport, but the route that particular line is taking, The bill for that line is at least £750m and rising. As far as I'm concerned the threat to the Borders line is if this particular £750m link were to press ahead."

She said it would be possible to build a rail link to Edinburgh Airport, which was much cheaper. It is hoped the line 35-mile Waverley line between Edinburgh and Tweedbank will reopen to trains by 2011.

The problem is that the cost of the Borders line has already officially been raised to £170 million, not the £155M as reported by the BBC and unofficially it's at £200M. As with all projects these days it seems impossible for the real cost to be given anywhere close to the outset of planning it, nor when it is approved or before it has been started. You'd have think we'd have learnt our lessons by now. If it weren't so serious it would be laughable.

p.s. Another example of BBC News poor standard of Scottish reporting

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