All photos courtesy of Edinburgh Trams
Trams are now being run along the length of the route from Edinburgh Airport as far as Edinburgh Park. This means that this morning about 10 o’clock the first tram crossed over South Gyle Broadway.
It went very slowly and was accompanied by many staff checking all the way….
The council are very keen to get the safety message across to other road users, who might not have been on the road the last time trams were running in Edinburgh in 1956.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, the city’s Transport Convener, said:- “With a new phase of tram testing beginning today between Gogar and Edinburgh Park, the project continues to move forward and ever closer to completion. We remain on track for a service launch in May 2014, although we will bring this forward if we can, and the importance of this testing, commissioning and driver training phase cannot be understated. Through carrying out all the appropriate checks and controls, we can ensure that the tram has been thoroughly tested before passenger services begin.
“We are, of course, mindful of the fact that it will take some time for people to get used to trams running on street and both pedestrians and drivers should initially take extra care at points where the tram crosses the road. This section of the route will eventually see in excess of 150 tram test journeys a day and so I’d encourage everyone to make sure they’re familiar with the safety advice available on our website. Later in the year we’ll launch a full citywide safety campaign ahead of full route testing beginning.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
