The bill for a new railway from Edinburgh to the Borders has more than doubled, the Scottish Government said yesterday as it announced new delays to the project.
The bill for a new railway from Edinburgh to the Borders has more than doubled, the Scottish Government said yesterday as it announced new delays to the project.
Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said the Waverley line, which will run from the capital's main station to Tweedbank near Galashiels, will cost anything between £235m and £295m - more than twice the original estimate of £129m.
Mr Stevenson yesterday said his government still supported the project, which it inherited from the old Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition, but warned that work would not be finished until 2013, two years later than initially planned.
"Not a single day's delay has derived from any action of this government," said Mr Stevenson, who accused the previous administration of "dither and delay".
Mr Stevenson, speaking in the Scottish Parliament, said the budget had to take account of an additional station - at Stow in the Borders - and rising land values in the Borders.
He said: "We will deliver a railway that strengthens some of Scotland's poorest communities, spreads wealth to the regions, and provides a real, sustainable, integrated, and cost-effective public transport alternative to the car."
He went on to tell MSPs: "The previously stated completion date of December 2011 was never achievable given the decisions taken by the previous administration and the requirement to ensure the project met key tests set by that administration."
The railway has strong backing from the environmental lobby and partially recreates a link lost in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
Mr Stevenson said the new line would be financed by a "non-profit distributing vehicle" (NPD), a special body modelled on the financial structure of Network Rail, which owns and runs the rest of Britain's rail infrastructure.
The minister said he could not be sure of the exact final figure for the project, which will depend on commercial negotiations.
Under the NPD financing method, capital would be borrowed from financial markets and repaid by annual charges met from the budgets of Transport Scotland, and with contributions from councils.
"NPD funding models are a cost-effective borrowing mechanism, avoid the high-interest rates of PFI and leave ownership of the asset in public hands throughout," said the minister.
He said the local economy would benefit, public transport would improve, road accidents could be reduced on the A7 and A68 and some 450,000 tonnes of carbon would be saved over 60 years.
Opposition MSPs were not impressed. Labour's Des McNulty said: "Ministers have taken nine months to reinstate this project. Costs are up - and the Borders is still waiting."
The proposed railway will run 35 miles with stations at Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank Trains will run every half hour and take around 55 minutes across the route.
