Transport Initiatives Edinburgh

Tie Limited
Limited company, wholly owned by local government
Industry Public transport
Founded 2002
Defunct 2011
Headquarters Edinburgh, Scotland
Area served
 Lothian
Key people
 Richard Jeffrey, Chief Executive (2009-2011)
Services Project management, transport planning
Owner City of Edinburgh Council
Website Official website (archived)

Tie Ltd. (previously Transport Initiatives Edinburgh Ltd.) was a Scottish company which, from May 2002 to August 2011, project-managed large-scale transport projects on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council in Edinburgh. It was brought in as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) to improve Scottish public transport infrastructure development.[1] Following its management of the controversial Edinburgh Trams project, the company was closed down in 2011.[2] It is meant to be replaced by Transport for Edinburgh.[3]

Ownership

Tie was a private limited company, wholly owned by the City of Edinburgh Council. It was a non-profit organisation.[4]

It was not connected with Transport Initiatives LLP, an English-based transport planning consultancy specialising in cycling, walking and travel planning.[5]

Projects

Tie was involved in several major transport projects in Scotland including:[6]

Project Description Status
Ingliston car park Ingliston Park & Ride a park and ride facility to be integrated with the Edinburgh tram system[7] Operational as a car park
"Stirling to Alloa and Kincardine railway under construction" Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link Railway line from Stirling to Kincardine Operational
One-Ticket A multi-modal ticketing system for south-east Scotland[8] Operational
Edinburgh guided bus Edinburgh Fastlink A guided bus system in the west of the city, opened in 2004 and closed in 2009 to be replaced with the Edinburgh Trams line. Closed
Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) Rail link connecting Edinburgh Airport with the main ScotRail (brand)ScotRail network [9] Cancelled
traffic on Princes Street Edinburgh Congestion charging A project to introduce a congestion charge into Edinburgh[10] Rejected in referendum
Edinburgh tram Edinburgh Trams Construction of a new tramwway in Edinburgh - Tie dismissed from project, August 2011[11] Open - limited scope

Edinburgh Trams

Since construction started in 2008, the Edinburgh Trams project was criticised for delays to the infrastructural works, in particular the closure of Princes Street. Tie underwent some organisational change at this time; in November 2008 Willie Gallagher stepped down as executive chairman.[12] David Mackay, then Chairman of Transport Edinburgh Limited, took over as interim chairman[13] until he was replaced in May 2009 by Richard Jeffrey,[14] who resigned from the post in 2011 after two years in the role.[15] Shortly after Jeffrey's resignation, four non-executive directors[16] and the communications director[17] of tie also resigned, followed by the introduction of a voluntary redundancy scheme aimed at halving the headcount of the company.[18] In August 2011, it was announced that further redundancies would be made, and an international consultancy, Turner & Townsend, was appointed to support the project while tie was relieved of its responsibilities.[11] Following the transfer of Tie’s responsibilities, the tramway contractor Bilfinger Berger spoke out about Tie’s management of the tram project and took the view that Tie had a poor risk management strategy and that it had failed to organise the necessary construction work to move the underground utilities prior to tramway construction.[19]

Closure

Following the Edinburgh Trams controversy, Tie was heavily criticised for its handling of the project.[20] In late 2011 Transport Initiatives Edinburgh was disbanded as a company. Tie initially chose not to reveal the severance payment awarded to its directors,[21] but following a Freedom of Information application, it was revealed that the directors of Transport Initiatives Edinburgh received compensation totalling £406,635 after they stepped down from the company.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "A window on developments in Scotland". PublicService.co.uk. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  2. ↑ Henderson, Damien (26 August 2011). "After eight years of chaos, city’s £700m trams project is stopped in its tracks". Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Transport for Edinburgh: New body to oversee trams and buses". BBC News. 15 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Our Company". TIE official website (archived). Archived from the original on 5 Dec 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. ↑ http://www.transport-initiatives.com Transport Initiatives LLP website
  6. ↑ "Achievements". TIE official website (archived). Archived from the original on 5 Dec 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Ingliston Park & Ride". Transport Initiatives Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 5 Dec 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  8. ↑ "Company Structure". One-Ticket website. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  9. ↑ "Edinburgh Airport Rail Link". Transport Initiatives Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 4 August 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Edinburgh Congestion Charge". Transport Initiatives Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 5 Dec 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  11. 1 2 Edinburgh trams project to be managed by new firm
  12. ↑ "Edinburgh tram boss resigns". Edinburgh: The Journal. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  13. ↑ "Interim Chairman appointed for Edinburgh Trams" (PDF). Transport Initiatives Edinburgh. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "Edinburgh Tram Project Appoints New Chief Executive" (PDF). Edinburgh Trams. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  15. ↑ "Richard Jeffrey quits as Edinburgh tram chief executive". BBC News (BBC). 19 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  16. ↑ Marshall, Chris (31 May 2011). "TIE bosses 'quit en masse' as trams shake-up looms". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  17. ↑ "Mandy Haeburn-Little to leave Edinburgh Trams project". BBC News (BBC). 7 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  18. ↑ Dalton, Alastair (11 June 2011). "Half of staff facing axe at troubled tram firm". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  19. ↑ Keysberg, Jochen (11 October 2011). Edinburgh trams: What went wrong?. Television interview with David Miller. BBC Scotland Investigates: The Great Tram Disaster. BBC. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  20. ↑ HUTCHEON, Paul (9 October 2011). "‘Trams body talked rubbish’, says Swinney". The Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  21. ↑ Miller, David (8 March 2012). "Edinburgh trams: No details of pay-off for TIE boss Richard Jeffrey". BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  22. ↑ "Edinburgh tram project bosses payments revealed". BBC News. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.

External links

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