Edinburgh Tram Network

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Although there currently is no tram network in Edinburgh, like many other cities in Scotland and England, Edinburgh had a tram network in the first half of the 20th century, running as far as Leith and Portobello. The service was withdrawn in 1956 - the last tram to run was on the evening of Friday November 16 that year.

Following years of transport studies in Edinburgh, the last being CERT, Central Edinburgh Rapid transport. In 2004, two Bills were submitted to the Scottish Parliament to reintroduce a tram network to Edinburgh. Both Bills were passed in March/April 2006 and the system has now received Royal Assent, construction will commence in 2007 following the presentation of the business case to the Scottish Executive in the autumn 2006. If funding is secured, the movement of underground utilities will begin in late 2006. Once the network becomes operational it will be operated by Transdev, a French company, that was awarded the contract in 2004 to help develop and eventually operate the network.

1 Lines
2 Development
3 Trams
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Lines

The proposal consists of three lines:

[edit] Line 1 (North Edinburgh)

Route Map

The first route will be a circular route between the City Centre, Leith, Newhaven and Granton. It will be integrated with the cycle and pedestrian path along the Roseburn wildlife corridor or the former railway between West Coates and Granton. This has raised opposition from users of the cycle path and graffiti has appeared on the cycle path protesting against the decision^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Line 2 (West Edinburgh)

Route Map

The second route will run from the City Centre out to Edinburgh Airport via Edinburgh Park, with a branch line to Newbridge. In February 2005, construction of a bus guideway, which forms part of the route, was completed. The guideway is designed for conversion to tram running, and between proposed stops 4 and 6 runs adjacent to the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway, between Haymarket and Edinburgh Park stations.

[edit] Line 3 (South East Edinburgh)

Route Map

The third tram line would run from the City Centre towards the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and finally connecting with Newcraighall railway station and Park & Ride, with a possible extension to Musselburgh.

The third route has yet to be submitted to the Scottish Parliament. Funding for the line depended on Edinburgh voters agreeing to a congestion charge, which was rejected in a referendum. As such, the proposal is on hold, but the land needed for the line will be protected for at least 10 years [1].

[edit] Development

The network will be built in three phases. Phase 1a would consist of a line from Newhaven to Edinburgh Airport via Princes Street. Phase 1b would be a line from Haymarket to Granton Square. Phase 2 would link Granton Square and Newhaven together. Phase 3 would extend the airport line to Newbridge.

The Network will be operated from a depot that will be situated close to the A8 roundabout just north of the Gyle tram stop.

It is hoped that phase one of the network will be operational by 2011.

As of october 2006 the sceme is beeing developed and designed under a joint design contract lead by Parsons Brinkerhoff and Halcrow. Currently, work is ongoing to refining previous designs done and undertake survey work where needed in preparation for moving of utilities and later network construction.

[edit] Trams

Four manufacturers have put together options to meet the specifications placed down by Transport Initiative Edinburgh (TIE). Alstom, Bombardier, CAF and Siemens submitted their tenders in mid october 2006 to build the 15-25 trams. The contract is worth up to £40 million.

The trams will have to cope with the steep slopes of Edinburgh while being 30-40m long, possibly the longest in the UK. They will be low floor or partial low floor and built to meet the UK RVAR regulations for disabled people. Passenger capacity will be more than 200 with a vehicle top speed in excess of 70 km/h. The system will be fitted with CCTV on the tramstops as well as in the tram. Special requirements that Edinburgh city has put on the bi-directional vehicles are low noise and a visual fit suitable for a world heritage site.2

Willie Gallagher, chairman of TIE, said:"Edinburgh will have the most advanced tram system in the world."1 Neil Renilson, chief executive of Lothian Buses and Transport Edinburgh Limited stated in Feburay 2006 "n the future, buses and trams will work together with seamless interchanges and fully integrated ticketing" [2]