Follow us on:

Edinburgh's tram of indefinite delays

Edinburgh had a tram system up until the 1950s and, like many developed cities, it did away with the network in favor of other forms of public transport, mainly buses. Increasingly heavy traffic jams in the capital, however, have prompted city leaders to reconsider and in 2006 two bills went through parliament and were approved.

Initial estimates as to the cost of the tram system were £498 million. £375 million was to come from the government of Scotland and £45 million from the city council. In 2009 it was reported by Edinburgh news provider The Herald that the project was over budget and running at £545 million, in addition, the construction was behind schedule and completion was pushed back to 2012, by 2010, Edinburgh news media were reporting a new completion date of 2014.

Part of the holdup has been funding disputes between the many parties involved in the project. In April 2010 it was reported by the BBC that traffic officials would remove the traffic restrictions put in place in the city centre for construction because no construction would be taking place, a dispute had arisen between the consortium of companies subcontracted to build the lines and the trams.

Bilfinger Berger is one of the companies, along with Siemens, contracted to build the routes, while Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) is the company overseeing the construction for a project that will ultimately be run by Edinburgh Trams Ltd, which will be owned by the City Council. The legal dispute was between Bilfinger Berger and TIE.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh residents have grown increasingly skeptical of the tram system. As already bad daily traffic jams became complete grid-lock, a report by Edinburgh news outlet Scotland on Sunday claimed in April 2010 that Edinburgh traffic jams, due to re-routing and diversions for construction works, had become worse than Paris and declared that Scotland’s capital was in fact the worst city in Europe for traffic jams after London.

Local businesses were growing edgy as well, citing a drop in revenues due to the chaos created in the city’s commercial district.

“Businesses are reporting trading reductions in excess of £1,000 per week, turnover losses, staff being laid off and, worse still, personally guaranteed overdrafts reaching their limit,” Gordon Burgess, who owns a bed shop in Leith Walk told the BBC in relation to his involvement in setting up an action group to put pressure on the city council to speed things along.

While such action was being taken by local businesses, the contractors charged with the construction of the routes were still in deadlock over costs and contract agreements involving many sections of the line, which has created further delays into 2014.

By April 2010, 27 trams had been ordered from Spanish developer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) even though the initial route would not need so many, TIE claimed the trams would be kept in storage until they could be utilized.

On the 25th of April some real progress seemed to be made when the first of the some 27 trams ordered by the city from Spain arrived and were put on display at various completed tram platforms, such as on Princess Street.

The public were invited to come and explore the trams, which have leather seats, interior display screens and can comfortably move along at 70km/h. For the first time in over 50 years, trams were back in the capital and city leadership hailed the progress as a grand step.

Residents of Edinburgh remain skeptical though, the project has exceeded its revised budget once more and the trams are not expected to go anywhere in the next two years as phase one of the tram route between Edinburgh Airport and Ocean Terminal is nowhere near complete, raising fears that the trams may become empty displays and targets for vandalism.

Other Top Stories

Comments

More Edinburgh News

RSS
More Edinburgh News

On Facebook

TV Guide

Travel

Edinburgh Feature

  • Edinburgh's tram of indefinite delays

    The development of a new tram system for Edinburgh has not been without controversy. Since the project was first proposed as far back as 1999 it took until 2006 for work to actually begin. Since then, there has been one failing after another, with many Edinburgh residents now wondering whether the new tram system will ever see the light of day and, more to the point, whether it is in fact necessary.

    Edinburgh had a tram system up until the 1950s and, like many developed cities, it did away with the network in favor of other forms of public transport, mainly buses. Increasingly heavy traffic jams in the capital, however, have prompted city leaders to reconsider and in 2006 two bills went through parliament and were approved. Read more

Tourism

  • Edinburgh is one of the UK's most visited cities, and rightly so...

    The city in itself is stunningly beautiful and Edinburgh's architecture is renowned the world over.

    But as well as looks, Edinburgh has substance.

    It has played a pivitol role in Scottish and British history for hundreds of years and even today everywhere you turn there is a historical building or monument.

    With so much to see and do, Edinburgh really should be high up on the list of any visitor to the UK.

    Edinburgh Tourism Board

News Links

Government

Edinburgh News.Net Readers' Poll

Do you think the stand-off with Iran over its nuclear program will be resolved following the election of new president Hassan Rouhani?

View Results

Edinburgh News - News Releases

Edinburgh News.Net's News Release Publishing Service provides a medium for circulating your organization's news.

Click for details

News from around our Network

Showing 1 thru 3 out of 10More from our network

Azerbaijan News.Net

United States News.Net

The Las Vegas News.Net

Showing 4 thru 6 out of 10More from our network

Tuscaloosa News.Net

Atlanta News.Net

The St Petersburg News.Net

Showing 7 thru 9 out of 10More from our network

Denver News.Net

Pennsylvania State News.Net

West Virginia State News.Net

Showing item 10 out of 10More from our network

Wisconsin State News.Net