Councillors have backed a £28 million plan to completely reimagine Dundee railway station but only after a heated row broke out over blacklisting.
The practice has been used in the past by Balfour Beatty, which has now been challenged to deliver the ambitious project in time for the opening of the V&A at Dundee.
Members of the city’s Labour group, led by Councillor Richard McCready, sought additional assurances from the firm that blacklisting was firmly in its past.
He challenged senior councillors, including SNP leader Ken Guild, to prove they were serious in their stated opposition to the practice.
Mr McCready’s call was, however, seized upon by Mr Guild as an attempt to derail the project as he said Balfour Beatty had already offered assurances to the satisfaction of the council.
Officers, meanwhile, warned that a delay in accepting the firm’s £28 million bid risked jeopardising the build as that tender was “close to running out”.
That further angered members of the Labour group, who complained of being “railroaded” into accepting the offer for fear that the project may become even more expensive.
Addressing the council, however, Mr Guild said Balfour Beatty should simply be allowed to get on with providing the train station the city has been asking for.
“Network Rail has a very restricted list of companies that are allowed to build over its tracks and that curtails our choice of company,” he said.
“Balfour Beatty has a track record of building over railways and have an excellent reputation for the quality of their work.
“They were involved in blacklisting but as part of the consideration of the contract the firm was required to satisfy officers that they are no longer involved.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Fraser Macpherson said it was “vital” that visitors coming to Dundee to see the V&A see and experience the new rail station.