A TRAMS director warned against "opening the whole can of worms" by moving to tackle stumbling blocks ahead of signing the critical contract deal for the botched project in the Scottish capital.

The Herald:

It was revealed that "not a single design element" of the Edinburgh trams system had been agreed just weeks before the contract with the main contractor was to be signed in 2008, five years after the project began.

Read more: Edinburgh Trams’ green gain blasted as only one per cent pollution cut along route

The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry before Lord Hardie heard senior officials had considered in emails whether to outline potential problems before the contract was signed or after.

Steven Bell, former Tie director, was pressed by Lord Hardie over the "prudence" of broaching hundreds of logistical and engineering hurdles timeously and he confirmed they had decided on “a bit of both”.

Read more: Edinburgh Trams’ green gain blasted as only one per cent pollution cut along route

The questioning of Mr Bell was set against the background of spiralling costs and undecided design issues from the early stages of the project.

The Herald:

At its inception in 2003 the price of the tram system was put at £375 million, by the time contract was signed in May 2008 this had risen to £545m, but by 2014 when the trams started running - three years late - the final bill was £776m.

The inquiry heard Tie executives considered whether to move to tackle outstanding issues before the contract was signed or leave this until later.

The level of uncertainty over possible stumbling blocks was highlighted at the inquiry where the nature of the contract is under scrutiny.

Instead of 60-100 potential problems that might have been expected on the project, there were 800 issues of concern, ranging from roadworks to providing tram stops, documents put before the inquiry showed.

Mr Bell was quizzed on a 2008 email from Tie colleague Jim McEwan, and it appeared the council was not told about the Bilfinger Berger Siemens consortium report that detailed concerns over the lack of any agreement on the design of the project, now being probed at the behest of former First Minister Alex Salmond.

Read more: Edinburgh Trams’ green gain blasted as only one per cent pollution cut along route

Mr McEwan, who was employed by Tie as a consultant/contractor between May 2007 and November 2009 as Business Improvement Director, wrote to Mr Bell that "my view is that if we pursue (advisor's) steer on this we will open up the whole can of worms on the Infraco contract cost overall, and that we have to take on the chin that the programme version is not consistent, get the deal signed and then fight the notified departure tooth and nail.

"I understand (advisor's) point but if we are at all hopeful of getting this done by the 15th April (this year) we cannot take his suggested approach."

The 2008 BBS report stated that in 2005 Tie set up a design agreement but by 2007 this plan showed "significant slippages", adding: "Consequently, no design element has been issued for construction."

Mr McEwan had written in his statement to the inquiry that he was "offered a contract role which was termed 'Business Improvement Director' but I was not a Director, nor a permanent employee, adding: "I had no signing authority in the role."