COUNCILLORS in Edinburgh have voted to restore the future tram route between Haymarket and St Andrew Square, which was voted out last week.
A crisis meeting heard today that the financial implications of terminating the line at Haymarket were growing more dire, with the threat of major penalties payable to the contractors as well as the loss of £72 million in government funding.
The special meeting, convened by the Lord Provost, voted to reverse last week's decision to abandon the Princes Street section, where lines were laid during a period of disruption which lasted through most of 2009.
The decision to end the line at Haymarket had been met with dismay by the city's Chamber of Commerce, whose chief executive described it as 'bonkers'.
The report considered by councillors said: "The option to complete the project to St Andrew Square is believed to yield the best prospect of a return on investment relative to the original aims of the project and to deliver best value for the city, the council and the Edinburgh Tram Project."
Today's meeting was told that around £60 million of funding from the Scottish Government, the remaining tranche of a grant worth £500 million, would not be paid to the council if it terminated the line from the airport at Haymarket.
Worse still, pulling out of Princes Street would have triggered penalty payments to the contractors of £161 million. It would also require yet more funding to restore Princes Street to its former state and provide a new, unplanned turnback for trams at Haymarket.
Today saw a change of heart by SNP councillors, who had abstained from last week's vote, thus allowing Conservative and Labour councillors to outvote the pro-tram Liberal Democrats. Today, both Labour and SNP members voted with the LibDems to continue the trams to St Andrew Square.
Council leader Jenny Dawe said a public inquiry now lay ahead, with the original financial case and costing of the tram project being scrutinised to see whether there had been wilful misinformation, negligence or simply mistakes.