Councillors approve Outline Business Case for taking tram to Newhaven

The Outline Business Case (OBC) for taking trams to Newhaven was approved by the City of Edinburgh Council (September 21st).The OBC has been closely scrutinised by members of all political groups on the Council over recent weeks and gained approval from the Transport and Environment Committee earlier this month.A comprehensive tendering process will now get under way to secure a potential contractor partner for the project.However, councillors will not make a final decision on taking the tram to Newhaven until autumn 2018.The intervening period – or Stage 2 in the process – will enable the project team to:(a) Allow affordability to be tested based on tender prices(b) Provide a further 12 months of evidence of tram patronage build up; and(c) Allow the project to consider any lessons learned from the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry currently under way(d) Undertake detailed work on traffic management arrangements and measures to mitigate disruption for businesses and residents