Tramlines in France

Trams for Edinburgh is a project to build a new tramway in Edinburgh, where local public transport has been limited to buses since the closing of the city’s original tramway on 16 November 1956.

Following years of transport studies in Edinburgh — two bills were submitted to the Scottish Parliament to reintroduce a tram network to Edinburgh. Both bills were passed in March/April 2006, and received Royal Assent. Movement of underground utilities commenced in Spring 2007, once the draft business case had been accepted by the Scottish Executive.

As of October 2006, the scheme is being developed and designed under a joint design contract lead by Parsons Brinkerhoff and Halcrow, and overseen by Transport initiatives edinburgh (tie), a company wholly owned by the City of Edinburgh Council. Currently, work is ongoing to refine previous designs and to undertake survey work where needed in preparation for moving of utilities and later network construction. Once the network becomes operational it will be operated by Transdev, a French company, who were awarded the contract in 2004 to help develop, and eventually operate the network.

Ticketing and fares will be fully integrated with Lothian Buses. The fare for a single journey on the tram network will be the same as on Lothian Buses, expected to be around £1.25 when the network opens in 2011. Day tickets and Ridacards will be valid on both the trams and buses.

The target date for opening the Phase 1a of the system is now 2011-02-25 at a cost of £498 million.

Critical scrutiny
The Scottish National Party (SNP) published its intention to scrap the scheme, along with the Edinburgh Airport rail link in its manifesto for the Scottish Parliament general election, 2007, to save a total of £1.1bn.

Following a vote in the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Executive agreed to continue with the line from the Airport to Leith on condition that no more public money would be supplied if the project overran. A report by Audit Scotland, commissioned by the SNP-led Scottish government, confirmed that the cost projections were sound.

On 2007-10-25 Edinburgh City Council gave approval to the Final Business Case. Approval was given by the Council on 22 December 2007 for TIE to sign contracts with CAF for the supply of the vehicles and BBS (a consortium of Siemens AG and Bilfinger Berger) for the design, construction and building of the network. Contract negotiations are expected to be concluded in January 2008 with construction of the network commencing in February 2008.

Lines


The proposal consists of three lines, of which lines One and Two have parliamentary permission. For funding reasons, 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. It is hoped that phase one of the network will be operational by 2011.

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

Line 1 (North Edinburgh)
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.
 * Route map

Please note that routeings, station names, and station locations are subject to change.

Line 2 (West Edinburgh)
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.
 * Route map

The Scottish Government announced on 2007-09-27 the cancellation of the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link and that they would build a new rail station and tram stop on the Fife Railway line this would allow fast connection to Edinburgh Airport, costs for this have not been stated and would be in addition to the currently budgeted for amount.

Please note that routeings, station names, and station locations are subject to change.

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 and 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 the Edinburgh road tolls referendum, 2005. As such, the proposal is on hold and does not form part of the proposed phases, but the land needed for the line will be protected for at least 10 years.

Tram vehicles
The contract to build the trams is worth up to £40 million, and manufacturers were required to meet the specifications placed down by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (tie). Tenders were submitted in mid October 2006. The trams will be manufactured by CAF who was selected from amongst the four manufacturers who submitted tenders. Alstom, Bombardier, and Siemens were the other companies competing to build the 27 vehicles.

The trams will have to cope with the steep slopes of Edinburgh while being 30 to 40 m (100 to 130 ft) long, possibly the longest in the UK. They will be 100% low floor built to meet the UK Rail Vehicle Access Regulations in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 for disabled people. Passenger capacity will be more than 200 with a vehicle top speed at 70 to 80 km/h (45 to 50 mph). 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.

Willie Gallagher, chairman of TIE, said: "Edinburgh will have the most advanced tram system in the world."