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The Scotsman Bulletin Wednesday September 25 2024 #Trams
The Scotsman
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25/09/2024
Scotsman deputy editor Dale Miller speaks to Political correspondent Rachel Amery about the Edinburgh Trams
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00:00
Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's daily video bulletin for this Wednesday.
00:04
My name's Dale Miller.
00:06
I'm deputy editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined by our political correspondent,
00:10
Rachael Amory.
00:12
Rachael, it's been again another few busy days in politics.
00:15
We'll talk about the front page of today's Scotsman first.
00:20
And we had Sir Keir Starmer obviously giving a keynote speech
00:26
at Liverpool from the Labor Conference.
00:30
Rachael, you wrote about one of the speech blunders that's been doing around on social
00:36
media in which he said sausages instead of hostages.
00:40
But look, there was some meat on the bones to discuss around the actual speech itself.
00:45
Starmer didn't completely shy away from things like the winter fuel payment.
00:50
He referenced that in his speech.
00:52
And we know that there is a non-binding vote that could be embarrassing for the UK government
00:58
as well taking place today.
00:59
You can read all about the outcome of that at Scotsman.com.
01:03
But closer to home, Rachael, there were some developments around Scottish politics as well.
01:09
And I want to talk to you about your exclusive up on the site this morning, which is about
01:15
trams and just how much has been spent on them.
01:18
Yes, it's now been 10 years since the Edinburgh trams opened up.
01:22
And of course, last year we saw the line extended down to Leith as well.
01:27
So actually, since that happened, passenger numbers have actually doubled in Edinburgh
01:32
on the trams.
01:33
Yes, last year also saw the busiest year, busiest day, sorry, ever on the trams as well,
01:38
thanks to a match happening at Morayfield while the Edinburgh Festivals was happening
01:42
as well.
01:44
But I think one of the main sort of talking points from this story is that the losses
01:48
the Edinburgh trams have made has now risen to £55 million.
01:53
It hasn't actually ran a profit since 2017.
01:56
Every year since then, it has made a loss and it's now £55 million.
02:02
A lot of these losses can actually be contributed to this asset fee that Edinburgh Council
02:08
charges. And this fee is because of how much it costs to build the tram network in the
02:13
very first place.
02:14
And that is £8.5 million every single year.
02:18
So when you look at individual years, how much the company is losing, most of it is
02:22
actually going on this fee to try and pay back the council.
02:26
So quite interesting to see just how much money the company has lost.
02:30
Now, it depends on who you ask as to whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.
02:34
We've got the Conservative MSP for the Lothian, Sue Webber.
02:37
She's not happy at all, saying it doesn't show that it's value for money at all and
02:42
showing that the government needs to show the public more that the money they've spent
02:47
is going on things that are needed in the transport industry.
02:51
If you ask Edinburgh Council, for example, though, they say that this is a system made
02:55
for the public. It's more about getting the public around, making environmental benefits,
02:59
making it easier to get around the city than it is to make profit.
03:03
So it depends on who you ask as to how they look at it here.
03:06
But yes, a lot of money seems to have been lost when it comes to the Edinburgh tram system.
03:11
Rachel, in layman's terms, the asset fee, is this effectively the council charging a fee to pay off its debt?
03:18
Essentially, that's exactly what it is.
03:19
Yeah, exactly what that is.
03:21
It's 8.5 million pound every year.
03:23
I think it's been charged since about 2018.
03:26
So most of the losses that have been made since 2017 can be attributed to this fee.
03:31
And I may be catching you on the hot butt.
03:33
Is there a date that the council ends up not paying this fee and we can expect the trams to actually start making money?
03:41
My understanding at the moment is that is indefinitely until the money is paid back.
03:45
So it could continue on for a while now longer.
03:48
It's quite interesting to see how well the trams do in 2024.
03:51
Obviously, we haven't got the accounts yet, seeing as we're not finished the year.
03:54
But obviously, big festival season, lots more people using the trams get down to Leith as well.
04:01
Major concerts at Murrayfield at the Taylor Swift concert, for example.
04:05
So it'll be interesting to see next year how much that affects the profits and the passenger numbers
04:10
that have usually come this year.
04:13
We know the trams have been a great addition to the city, but also Alistair Dalton has written in recent months about delays
04:21
and trams arriving on time as well due to congestion through the city centre.
04:25
Anyone that's caught the tram down Princess Street will know it takes a long time to go a short distance in that little stretch.
04:32
So you can read that at the scotsman.com website as well.
04:35
Rachel, I want to look ahead slightly forward in the week and Friday, I believe we will know the new Scottish Tory leader.
04:43
It won't be Douglas Ross anymore, will be one of three candidates.
04:47
Just tell me about the campaign and whether you think anyone has their nose in front heading into Friday.
04:53
Yes, we've got First Minister's questions tomorrow.
04:56
I think that might be the last time we see Douglas Ross standing as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
05:02
Tomorrow is also the close of ballots for who should be the party leader.
05:06
And on Friday morning, we'll get the announcement of who has won that ballot.
05:10
So we have three candidates. We've got Russell Finlay, who is sort of seen to be the bookie's favourite,
05:17
especially in the beginning days, because Douglas Ross seemed to want him to be the replacement candidate.
05:23
Murdo Fraser, one of the veteran MSPs in the Parliament, also I think has a lot of other MSPs in the party,
05:31
so he's got a pretty good campaign going as well.
05:34
And the third candidate is Megan Gallacher, who was the deputy leader up until very recently.
05:39
Three very strong candidates.
05:41
There's not a clear leader, but people seem to think it's a two horse race between Russell Finlay and Murdo Fraser.
05:47
A lot of people have sort of discounted Megan Gallacher as being a serious contender in this competition.
05:52
So we'll see what happens on Friday morning when this all gets announced.
05:57
But it does seem to have quietened down a bit awfully, I think, at the very start, particularly when the ballots were first opening.
06:03
There was lots of big speeches being made by the candidates, lots of events being held.
06:08
There hasn't been much in recent days, it has to be said, on this leadership election.
06:12
I think other politics have overtaken things somewhat.
06:16
So interesting to see what happens over the next few days.
06:19
But by Friday, this time on Friday, I think we will now know who the new Conservative leader will be in Scotland.
06:25
And Rachel, not a lot of Scotsman's backing any candidate.
06:28
We do have Murdo Fraser as a regular columnist as well.
06:31
He's written on the leadership battle and other issues over recent weeks.
06:35
You can find any of his comment pieces on the opinion tab at Scotsman.com.
06:41
Rachel, thanks very much for joining us.
06:43
As I said, you can get the latest post noon on that non-binding vote from UK Labour Party conference.
06:52
On the winter fuel payment, it could be embarrassing for Keir Starmer as he is off and away and overseas now, post Liverpool.
07:01
Thanks very much to you, Rachel, and thanks, everyone, for joining us.
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