Trams are still being tested on the route which runs between Edinburgh Airport and York Place, and there is no announcement from the council as yet about the date when passengers can start using the new transport.
The Edinburgh Reporter was out at Haymarket yesterday morning and made this little film which shows that pedestrians and other road users have a way to go when it comes to acknowledging the trams on the streets.
All drivers have to have 60 hours of driving under their belts, and they have to do at least one practice tow of a ‘broken down’ tram before they will be allowed to carry passengers.
Until then the Edinburgh public is urged to watch out for the tram. They do have bells but are otherwise silent, so pedestrians and other road users should be #carefulnow as all the social media safety messages advise.
As a cyclist it’s nice to get a little wave from @EdinburghTrams when we stop to let him go by #carefulnow #livetogether
— Rich Dyson (@rich_dyson) April 24, 2014
Second weekend of tram driver training and testing and what a corker of a day for it! #dingding #carefulnow
— Edinburgh Trams (@EdinburghTrams) April 19, 2014
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
When referring to Edinburgh Trams progress, you recently used the caption “almost there”.
May I respectfully invite you to visit Edinburgh Airport tram terminus and see if you would repeat that headline ! A glorified building site is to polite. A May start ? I don’t think so.
Actually Mr McFarlane I have been on the tram a few times now, and also visited the building site at the airport. You are right there is a building site – but it is an extension to the airport building which is designed to accommodate a new security hall, and is designed specifically to take the airport nearer to the tram stop. You can read the article about the airport expansion here https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2014/03/no-more-security-queues-promised-at-edinburgh-airport/ Also, I was at a media briefing this week and the council message is definitely that the trams are on time and on (revised) budget and passengers will be on board before May is ‘oot’. But am willing to take a bet with you….:)
I have visited Edinburgh a few times whilst the tram has been under construction, and despite problems, they are a reassuring site that public transport can be efficient and clean. A visit to many other cities in Europe would also reassure folk that the tram is a real asset in shifting crowds quickly.
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