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LIGHT RAIL/METRO
EEDINBURGH’S x t e n dTRAMS ing
DAVID SHIRRES
I
n 2013, few in Edinburgh would have wanted an extension to the tram network. At the time, the trams were a toxic subject in the city. The tram project was causing massive disruption in the city, was three years late, almost £300 million over its £490 million budget and was not delivering the full project. Businesses and residents along Leith Walk had a particular reason to feel aggrieved. They suffered during the tram’s utility works but were not to benefit from the tram as, in 2011, the cost overrun resulted in a decision not to build the section from Newhaven and Leith to Edinburgh.
2001 tram network proposal.
Rail Engineer | Issue 186 | September/October 2020
A tram network was part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s 2001 new transport initiative. This proposed a 35-kilometre tram network for which construction was authorised by Acts of the Scottish Parliament in 2006. However, due to funding issues, the Council decided only to build the 18.5 kilometres between Newhaven
and the Airport for which tram and infrastructure contracts were let in 2008. CAF won the contract to supply 27 lowfloor trams, which, with the curtailment of the Edinburgh to Newhaven section, were twice the number required. The trams were delivered on time from 2010 onwards and had to be stored in a nearby industrial estate until the delayed infrastructure was ready for them. Despite the tram’s difficult beginnings, once the system opened in 2014, the trams proved to be popular, with
