Cyril Sweett to oversee £2bn Scottish transport spend

Consultant Cyril Sweett has been appointed to manage a £2bn transport spending spree by the Scottish executive.

The contract involves project management of large public transport infrastructure projects throughout Scotland and will run for between five and seven years.

The news of Cyril Sweett’s appointment comes as Network Rail announced a £4bn programme to upgrade stations across Britain last month.

The nine high-profile schemes include the first phase of the redevelopment of Waverley station in Edinburgh, which is being undertaken by architect Arup Scotland. Work will include extending the platforms and realigning the track.

The other projects included in the portfolio are:

• Edinburgh airport rail link
• Glasgow airport rail link
• Edinburgh trams network
• Railway linking Edinburgh to Borders towns
• Redevelopment of Edinburgh’s main Haymarket interchange
• Larkhall–Milngavie project, creating four rail stations in and around Glasgow
• Airdrie–Bathgate rail link
• Stirling–Alloa–Kincardine rail link.

The cost of Edinburgh’s tram network has already risen £66m and is set to grow again

The projects are all at different stages of completion – and some have already hit problems. The cost of Edinburgh’s proposed tram network has already risen about £66m and is set to grow again. It will now cost £539m to build two tram lines in the capital, leaving a funding shortfall of £164m.

The scheme – which includes one route to the north of the city and a line linking the city centre to Edinburgh airport – was originally priced at £473m in December 2003. But this was £98m more than the Scottish executive’s grant of £375m to cover the project.

Meanwhile, the Glasgow airport rail link has also risen £20m, thought to be because of rising steel and concrete prices.

None of the Scottish stations has gone to market yet but plans are being laid for eight stations including Glasgow Queen Street, Montrose and Perth.