Edinburgh’s trams carried 12.5 million passengers in 2025, marking an increase of 3.3 percent from 2024.
Almost 1.5 million passengers travelled on the tram in August alone, and the all-time record of just under 77,000 passengers in one day was set on 9 August when the Oasis concert took place at Murrayfield.
One instance in 2024 when the tram company ran all 27 of its trams at once successfully had led to “enhancement of service” during major events.
Edinburgh Trams credits part of the increase this year with the introduction of tap on, tap off fares on the trams, with passengers able to use bank cards and mobile phones to travel rather than buying a ticket.
Strong visitor numbers during festivals and events in 2025, along with “record-breaking” summer demand have also been contributory factors.
Trips taken on Edinburgh Trams have increased year-on-year since trams were reintroduced to the city in 2014, with the exception of the period during the pandemic.
The Trams to Newhaven extension through Leith, which opened in June 2023, also coincided with a large increase in passenger numbers.
Figures for 2022-2023 totalled 5.3m journeys, while in 2023-2024 there was a jump to 10.1m. The figure for 2024-2025 is 12.2m.
Edinburgh Council is currently in the process of planning a new tram route between Granton and the southeast of the city.
It is planned to use the route along Princes Street in the city centre, and there are options of using either a route following the Roseburn Path or alternatively Dean Bridge and Orchard Brae to run towards Granton where thousands of new homes are being built.
Meanwhile, it is also planned to travel through Newington to reach Cameron Toll, where it would proceed south to the Royal Infirmary. Cameron Toll is being proposed as a new transport hub in a redevelopment scheme.
A future extension of the route could take the service further from the city or into Midlothian, with possible options including Shawfair and Queen Margaret University.
More than 11,000 people responded to a consultation on the new route, which ran between August and November of last year.
Consultation documents released in August suggested that the total cost of the new route would stand at around £2.9 billion.
There is a meeting of the council’s Transport and Environment Committee on 2 April.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
