MAJOR TRAM ROUTE SECTION COMPLETE

A 2.8km stretch of track between the Gogar depot and Edinburgh International Airport has been handed over to the Council following a successful programme of testing by contractors. Today’s handover marks the end of a thorough commissioning process which began in November 2012.

The contract completion date for the project remains summer 2014. Once on-street works and overhead cabling work has been completed by the end of the year, a programme of rigorous testing and commissioning will take place in early 2014 to prepare the system and the service for operation.
The Edinburgh Reporter was invited along for the inaugural tram trip with many other journalists, photographers and film crew and we made this video report:-

Transport Minister Keith Brown said:

“This is further evidence that the project is now making good progress in terms of the revised timetable. The people of Edinburgh and local business community should now be able to plan ahead with confidence and look forward to seeing further evidence of the project coming to fruition over the coming months

“Once the construction works are complete the emphasis will quickly move to ensuring that the appropriate tests and checks are run as quickly and effectively as possible so that businesses, residents and visitors can really start to benefit.

“The trams can deliver not just for the city but also for the rest of Scotland’s transport network. The stop at Edinburgh Airport, refurbished Haymarket Station and Edinburgh Gateway rail-tram interchange will mean improved links and more options for residents and visitors between the rail network, Airport and other key transport hubs.”

The tram project team will report to Council in September 2013 with an update to project timescales. The project remains in line with the revised budget (£776m) approved by the Council in September 2011, with work either ahead of schedule or in line with the revised timescale reported in December 2011.
Follow Edinburgh Trams on Twitter for updates about the project.
It is almost 50 years since trams were decommissioned in Edinburgh when Princes Street looked like this….
The Edinburgh Reporter thanks @RCAHMS for their kind permission to use this photo. You can see this and many other fascinating images on the RCAHMS website.
Phyllis Stephen
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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3 COMMENTS

  2. Amazing job Edinburgh council, but we have a wager at the the Edinburgh drunk society: could a private company have built a reusable space launching platform allowing free travel to the moon for all residents of Edinburgh for approximately the same money and be more popular in the process while causing less disruption?

    This will be looked on in the future as Edinburghs second disgrace but more (possibly less) mobile and defiantly cause lasting damage.

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