Edinburgh Trams
A tram on Princes Street in May 2014
Overview
Owner	Transport for Edinburgh
Locale	Edinburgh
Transit type	Light rail/Tram
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	23
Annual ridership	9.3 million (2023)[1]
Headquarters	1 Myreton Drive Edinburgh EH12 9GF
Website	edinburghtrams.com
Operation
Began operation	31 May 2014 (2014-05-31)
Operator(s)	Edinburgh Trams Ltd.
Number of vehicles	27 CAF Urbos 3
Train length	42.8 m (140 ft 5 in)
Headway	3–10 minutes
Technical
System length	18.5 km (11.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 750 V DC
Top speed	70 km/h (43 mph)
Route map Legend 0.0 Newhaven 0.7 Ocean Terminal 1.6 Port of Leith 2.0 Shore 2.5 Foot of the Walk 3.1 Balfour Street 3.8 McDonald Road 4.7 Picardy Place 5.4 St Andrew Sq ( Waverley) 6.0 Princes Street 7.0 West End 7.5 Haymarket 8.8 Murrayfield Stadium 9.8 Balgreen West Coast Main Line 11.4 Saughton 12.7 Bankhead 13.5 Edinburgh Park Edinburgh–Dunblane and North Clyde lines 14.4 Edinburgh Park Central 15.2 Gyle Centre 15.6 Edinburgh Gateway Fife Circle Line 15.8 Gogar tram depot 16.3 Gogarburn 17.9 Ingliston 18.5 Edinburgh Airport (special fares apply) km This diagram: view talk edit

Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is an 18.5-kilometre (11.5 mi) line between Newhaven and Edinburgh Airport, with 23 stops.^[2][3][4]

A modern tram network for Edinburgh was proposed by Edinburgh Council in 1999, with detailed design work being performed over the next decade. Construction of the first phase, linking Edinburgh Airport with Newhaven, began in June 2008, but encountered substantial delays and cost overruns. During 2009, a 15-year contract held by Transdev to operate and maintain the tram network was cancelled. By mid 2010, cancellation of the whole project was being publicly considered; during the following year it was announced that the length of the tram network would be drastically curtailed. Prior to August 2011, the project was overseen by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE), a company wholly owned by Edinburgh Council; TIE was disbanded largely due to its failings on the project's delivery. The troubled construction of the Edinburgh Tram was subject to a lengthy formal inquiry, chaired by Lord Hardie, which concluded that failings by Edinburgh Council and its arms-length companies were largely to blame for the delays in construction.

On 31 May 2014, the tramway was officially opened to the public, but only between the airport and York Place. The service is operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transport for Edinburgh, in which the City of Edinburgh Council has a controlling interest. The service is equipped with 27 CAF Urbos vehicles. It runs at a seven-minute interval for most of the day, seven days per week. Fares and ticketing are integrated with Lothian Buses, with the same fares charged on both systems, except for services to the airport where the tram is more expensive.

Since the original opening of the tramway, various changes have been implemented. During December 2016, the Edinburgh Gateway tram stop, between Gyle Centre and Gogarburn, was opened to provide an interchange between Edinburgh Trams and the Fife Circle Line and Edinburgh to Aberdeen Lines. Following the council's approval for an extension of the line to Newhaven in March 2019, construction work commenced in November of that year, and was completed on schedule in June 2023, despite being delayed for three months by the coronavirus pandemic. As of 2024, an additional extension serving the north-south axis of the city was in the planning stage.

History

Background

Edinburgh and Leith were originally served by horse-drawn coaches, and then from 1871 various companies and corporations ran trams that were horse-drawn, then cable driven and finally electric. The municipal Edinburgh Corporation Tramways ran from 1919 until 16 November 1956.^[5][6] After that date, public transport consisted of buses and a limited network of commuter rail lines.

Towards the end of the 20th century, there was revived interest in trams in the United Kingdom and networks were reintroduced in Birmingham, Croydon, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield.^[7][8] Proposals for a network in Edinburgh were made in the 1990s, and a plan to build a line along Princes Street and Leith Walk to Newhaven was proposed in 1999 by the City of Edinburgh Council, Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise and the New Edinburgh Tramways Company.^[9][10]

Proposals and agreement

A 2001 proposal envisaged three routes, lines 1, 2 and 3. The first was a circular route around the northern suburbs, and the others were radial routes to Newbridge in the west and Newcraighall in the south.^[11] All lines would have passed through the city centre. In May 2004, a 15-year operating contract was awarded to Transdev, to operate and maintain the tram network.^[12][13] This contract was cancelled in 2009.^[14]

Two bills to reintroduce a tram network were passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2006.^[15][16] Lines 1 and 2 received parliamentary permission, but funding the entire network was deemed impossible. Line 3, to be paid for by a proposed Edinburgh congestion charge, was scrapped when the charge was heavily defeated in a referendum and construction of the remaining two lines was split into four phases:

• Phase 1a 18.5-kilometre (11.5 mi) from Newhaven to Edinburgh Airport via Princes Street, combining parts of lines 1 and 2
• Phase 1b 5.6-kilometre (3.5 mi) from Haymarket to Granton Square via Crewe Toll, comprising most of the remainder of line 1
• Phase 2 linking Granton Square and Newhaven, completing the line 1 loop
• Phase 3 extending the airport line to Newbridge, completing line 2

The future of the scheme came under threat in 2007, when the Scottish National Party (SNP) published its manifesto for the Scottish Parliamentary election. The party made clear its intention to cancel the scheme, along with the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link, to save £1.1 billion.^[17][8]

Following a lost vote in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP-led minority Scottish Government agreed to continue the line from the airport to Leith on condition that no more public money would be supplied. A report by Audit Scotland, commissioned by the Scottish Government, confirmed that the cost projections were sound.^[18][19][20] The cost of the scheme in 2003 was estimated at £498 million, £375 million in funding from the Scottish Government and £45 million from Edinburgh Council.^[21][22]

On 25 October 2007, the council approved the final business case.^[23] Approval was given on 22 December 2007 for TIE to sign contracts with CAF to supply vehicles and BBS (a consortium of Bilfinger Berger and Siemens) to design and construct the network.^[24][25] Contract negotiations finished in April 2008, and construction started in June 2008. By this stage the cost of the project was estimated at £521 million. Funding problems and political disputes led to the scaling back of the original plans. In April 2009, the council cancelled phase 1b, citing revenue shortfall created by the economic slowdown to save an estimated £75 million.^[26] The Granton extension was also cancelled for the same purpose.^[27][8]

Construction: 2007–2012

Until August 2011, the project was overseen by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE), a company wholly owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, who were responsible for project-managing the construction of the tramway.^[28]

After the draft business case was accepted by the Scottish Government in March 2007,^[29] initial construction work commenced in July 2007, with the diversion of underground utilities in preparation for track-laying in Leith.^[30] These works followed a plan by System Design Services (SDS), a joint design team led by Parsons Brinckerhoff and Halcrow Group.

In May 2008, final contracts to build the tram system were awarded to BSC, a consortium of Bilfinger Berger, Siemens and Spanish tram builder Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).^[31]

The tramway uses a mix of street running and segregated off-road track, with conventional tram stop platforms.^[32] Stops are fitted with shelters, ticket machines, lighting and CCTV. The network is operated from a depot in Gogar, close to the A8 roundabout, immediately west of Edinburgh Gateway tram stop.^[33]

The route of the line required the construction of bridges to cross railway lines at Edinburgh Park and Stenhouse, and a tunnel under the A8 near the Gogar roundabout. A bridge at Balgreen was widened.^[34] Works to build a tram interchange at Haymarket station involved the demolition of a Category C(S) listed building, the former Caledonian Alehouse on Haymarket Terrace.^[35]

Some on-street track was laid in a special foundation with cobbled road surfacing designed to be sympathetic with the style of Edinburgh streets but was removed in many places due to objections from cyclists.^[36] The trams are powered by overhead cables attached to purpose-built poles or mounted on the sides of buildings.^[37] Nine electrical sub-stations were planned for the line to Newhaven, both underground and above-ground^[38] but only five were built after the line was truncated at York Place.^[39]

Revisions and delays

In 2008 and 2009, the project met with delays to work on tramway infrastructure. Phase 1b of the project was cancelled because of a funding shortfall in April 2009.^[26] Contractual disputes delayed track-laying in the city centre. In December 2009, media reported that the project budget was running over £545 million, and the system was unlikely to come into operation until February 2012 or later.^[40] The operating contract with Transdev was cancelled in December 2009 to reduce costs and it was announced that the trams would be operated by Edinburgh Trams Limited, a subsidiary of Transport for Edinburgh.^[14][41] During March 2010, Bilfinger Berger announced that the estimated completion date would be in 2014.^[42][43]

Contractual disputes

In February 2009, work on the Princes Street section stopped due to contractual disagreements between TIE and BSC after the latter submitted a request for an additional £80 million of funding.^[44][45] Edinburgh Council believed the contractors' claims were unjustified as they had agreed to fixed-price contracts.^[46] After negotiations, BSC agreed to commence construction in March 2009 within the original budget, although disagreements remained.^[47] Work restarted and line construction went ahead.

In August 2009, TIE began legal proceedings against the BSC consortium over delays to the project,^[48] and track-laying on Leith Walk, Shandwick Place and Haymarket was suspended. At issue were alleged changes to BSC's work specification, including track works on Princes Street and £5 million additional costs for foundation work near Murrayfield Stadium. The BSC consortium alleged that TIE had not diverted the underground utilities in time for track-laying to begin, breaching contractual agreements and costing the consortium additional staffing expenditure.^[49]

In January 2010, the independent arbiter found in favour of TIE on some points, but on most of the disputed issues ruled in favour of BSC and awarded the consortium 90% of its additional costs, estimated to be up to £80 million.^[50]

Delays in track laying and depot construction affected vehicle testing. By September 2009, construction was reported to be nine months behind schedule, and CAF was due to deliver the first trams from its factory in Spain. With key project dependency out of synchronisation, TIE held discussions with Transport for London about delivering the trams to Croydon to conduct operational tests on the Tramlink network.^[51][52] Tram vehicle testing commenced in March 2010 on the Siemens test track in Wildenrath, Germany.^[53] The tests included recreating the steep gradients of Leith Walk, and using weights to simulate the heavy passenger load expected during a Murrayfield match day.^[54][55]

Funding crisis

Following further disputes and delays, it was reported in March 2010 that Edinburgh Council was considering cancelling the contract with Bilfinger Berger.^[56] By June 2010, the project's cost had risen to £600 million.^[57] Council project managers were reported to be in crisis talks, considering options including: borrowing £55 million to fund the increased costs; phasing the introduction of the tram line, so that trams would initially run between the airport and Haymarket; and terminating the contract with Bilfinger Berger.^[58] The council asked TIE to draw up costs for truncating the line at four places: Haymarket station, York Place, the foot of Leith Walk or Ocean Terminal.^[59]

Work resumed in May 2011 at priority locations, Haymarket Yards and Gogar, while the project's future was decided by the council. In August 2011 it was announced TIE would be disbanded and consultants Turner & Townsend would manage the project.^[60][61]

On 30 June 2011, Edinburgh Council voted to continue the line between Edinburgh Airport and St Andrew Square. Costs rose to an estimated £770 million, leaving the council with a shortfall of more than £200 million.^[62][63] The option to scrap the project was considered, but rejected.^[64] On 25 August 2011, the council voted to cut the line to run between the airport and Haymarket, reducing the expected cost to £715 million.^[65] A week later, after the Scottish Government threatened to withhold £72 million of funding,^[66] the council reversed its decision, restoring the terminus at St Andrew Square.^[62] On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the eastern terminus would be at York Place instead of St Andrew Square; the intention had been to build the tracks to a reversing point at York Place (without a stop for passengers). Extending passenger services from St Andrew Square to York Place would enable Broughton Street, Picardy Place and the surrounding area to be better served at comparatively little additional cost.^[67]

The first electric wires were energised in October 2011 within the depot at Gogar. Testing trams began in December 2011 near the depot at Gogar, on a 500-metre (550 yd) length of track.^[68][69] On 15 December 2011, the contractors handed the depot to the City of Edinburgh Council.^[70] The first completed section of line, between the depot and Edinburgh Airport, was used to test a tram at full speed on 19 December 2012.^[71]

With extra interest payments factored in, the cost of the line was expected to exceed £1 billion despite the decreased scope of the network.^[72][8]

Criticism

Delays in construction were criticised by businesses, who claimed their income was damaged by long-term road closures in the centre of the city, and also by some residents.^[46][73][74]

Cycling groups voiced safety concerns after people were injured as their bicycle wheels became caught in the track. They reported the road surface around the tracks was crumbling, raising further safety problems. In response, TiE promised to carry out repairs and Edinburgh Trams agreed to fund special training for cyclists.^[75] During 2017, a woman was crushed to death by a passing bus when her bicycle wheel was caught in the tracks. Further safety concerns were raised by residents along the routes about the suspension of overhead electric cables from residential buildings, and some property owners refused permission for cables to be attached.^[54]

To remedy crumbling tarmac along the tracks on Princes Street, the road was closed in September 2011 and remained closed for ten months.^[76][77] A road closure between Haymarket and Shandwick Place in March 2012 led to complaints from businesses and residents. It remained closed until October 2013. Originally to open as Shandwick Place tram stop, it was renamed West End - Princes Street prior to opening at the request of local traders, who felt the new name had greater associations to the city centre and would encourage more tourists to get off there. The stop was renamed again in August 2019 as West End.^{[78][79][80][81]}

Completion: 2013–2014

From late 2012, work continued mostly on schedule.^[82] More than 150 metres (160 yd) of flawed concrete trackbed had to be replaced between Shandwick Place and Haymarket.^[83][84] In June 2013, overhead electric wires were installed on the city centre portion of the route. This was considered the last major step in the construction process.^[85]

Controversy erupted over concessionary travel for the elderly and disabled. Originally, it was planned that concessionary travel, that is the ability of those with a Scottish National Entitlement Card to travel on public transport free-of-charge, was not going to be offered on the tramway. This was despite the fact that Edinburgh Trams is to be run by Lothian Buses, who are mandated to offer free travel to those with concession cards on all their bus routes.^[86] This revelation quickly caused city leaders to support an Edinburgh Evening News campaign to ensure that concessionary travel would be offered on the new tramway. City transport convener Lesley Hinds stated "People in Edinburgh have paid through their council tax and their taxes for the trams to get up and running and it would be wrong for a large proportion of the population not to be allowed to use their concessionary bus pass".^[86]

Despite this, the Scottish Government refused to pay for concessionary travel for the tram scheme, as it does for all bus routes in Scotland. Talks between the Scottish Government and Edinburgh Council eventually decided that concession cards should be valid for tram travel, but that they should be paid for by the Council instead of the Government.^[87] It was revealed on 15 August 2013 that the cards would be valid, and that travel would be paid for by Edinburgh Council. However, only people with cards issued in Edinburgh would be able to use them.^[88] This compromise upset many people in the Lothians, who often commute or travel into Edinburgh.^[89]

Works were two months ahead of schedule by September 2013, when Edinburgh Council announced the tramway would open by May 2014.^[90] All tram and road works were completed by 19 October^[79] with testing of the trams between the depot and Edinburgh Park commencing on 8 October 2013. This was followed by the energising of tram wires from Bankhead tram stop to York Place on 19 November, marking the first time that the route was completely energised.^[91] Testing along the full length of the route began on 5 December.^[92][93][94]

The tramway opened to passengers on 31 May 2014.^[95][96]

Public inquiry

In June 2014, shortly after the opening of the line, the then First Minister Alex Salmond announced a non-statutory public inquiry into the project's delays and cost overruns.^[97] The inquiry, which was headed by the former Lord Advocate, Andrew Hardie, Baron Hardie, was later upgraded to a statutory inquiry to ensure that key personnel would provide evidence.^[98]

The inquiry was itself subject to considerable delays. It finally published its report in August 2023. The report concluded that failings by Edinburgh Council, its arms-length companies and the Scottish Government were to blame for the delays,^[99] with much of the criticism being directed against TIE. Lord Hardie made 24 recommendations in the report, and also provided a figure of £835.7m for the final cost of the project.^[100]

Extension from city centre to Newhaven

Edinburgh Council stated on 17 March 2014 that works would be conducted along Leith Walk to prepare it for a possible future extension of tram service.^[101] In December 2014, Edinburgh Council ordered a detailed business case for extending the line to Leith.^[102] The council said in July 2015 that three options for an extension to Leith had been costed. These were a £144.7 million extension to Newhaven, a £126.6 million extension to Ocean Terminal, or a £78.7 million extension to the Foot of Leith Walk.^[103]

During 2017, the business case to extend the system to Newhaven was approved.^[104][8] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Edinburgh_Airport_tram_stop
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