With a third of the tram route now open for testing the council believes it is time to appoint the members of the board who will run the public transport offering in Edinburgh which is now called Transport for Edinburgh (TFE).
All major roadworks have been removed over this weekend, and most streets are free of major diversions due to tramworks except where tram stops are still being built.
Council Leader Andrew Burns said:-“This is another significant step in the tram project.”
He also announced ahead of this week’s council meeting when some tram business is being discussed that trams will be tested on Princes Street in December which will include the interaction between trams and other road traffic. At present the trams are being tested as far as Edinburgh Park where they do cross a significantly big road and interact with cars there, but the next big test will be at Haymarket and Princes Street later in the year.
Transport for Edinburgh will now be set up with four councillors as members, and four of the directors from Lothian Buses who will be charged with the day to day running of the transport body. These include Ian Craig CEO, Operations Director,Bill Campbell, the Engineering Director,Bill Devlin, and Norman Strachan, currently Finance Director of Lothian Buses.
The four councillors to be appointed next week will include Lesley Hinds who is being nominated for the Labour Group
Three other politicians from the other political parties (with the exception of the LibDems who decided not to be represented on the board of the transport company) will be put forward this week.
Following the appointments the Board for TFE can then meet with Lesley Hinds as chair.
After that the board will recruit Non-Executive Directors decided upon by a cross-party panel and those appointments will be ratified by full council in December.
All of these positions (except the non-executive directors) will be unpaid positions given that they are already on the board of Lothian Buses or are elected councillors.
As well as this under item 8.2 on the agenda for this Thursday’s council meeting the Tram Byelaws are presented for adoption by the council as they have now been approved by The Scottish Government. These will be in place by 1 November 2013.
Most of this is common sense but some things may differ from the conditions of carriage on Lothian Buses as the tram is a kind of light train so comes under different rules and regulations anyway. For example if you take your dog or other small animal with you then it must either be on a lead or in a cage or carrying case.
You may not take a bicycle with you except a folding bicycle in a suitable carrying bag, and provided there is space to do so.
You are allowed to travel on the tram in a wheelchair if the designated wheelchair space is available.
There will be CCTV to ensure everyone’s safety on the trams.
Passengers who travel with young children are encouraged to fold their buggies when possible, although they will be allowed where they do not obstruct the doorways or the aisles.
The Edinburgh Reporter has travelled on one of the Edinburgh Trams and it is clear that they will have a lot of room for luggage, particularly sensible as the last stop on the route is the Airport.
This is the document to be given final approval by the council:-
Click to access Tram-Bye-Laws.pdf
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