Edinburgh Tram Consultation

[FoxIn25]

Any Edinburgh locals been following the latest tram plans from the Council? They’re consulting on a new tram line from Granton through town and out to the Bioquarter. At a cost of 3bn which they don’t know where the money will come from.

Not sure how I feel about this, can maybe see the point of a tram south to the RIE but not really the rest of it. The route they want to use in the north also involves cutting down 3000 trees and destroying a lovely off road walking/cycling route.

I never really use the trams, maybe to get to the airport occasionally but even then the bus is quicker from where I live. Edinburgh council seems obsessed by them though! Can't help thinking what else that £3bn would fund across the city....

I have sent my reply. We simply cannot afford it. The disruption will be horrendous. I live by the Cameron Toll shopping centre and it's been chaos several times due to the roundabout closure there. Craigmillar park down through clerk street to the bridges has a lot of businesses on it and we all know what happened in Leith walk when they put the trams there.
The bus service is excellent in this part of town right out to the hospital what holds it up is the cycle lanes which means the buses struggle to get into the bus lanes at peak times.
The roads need resurfacing desperately. I drove up liberton brae/gardens etc yesterday and it's so bumpy.

We have many more things we could spend our money on. The consultation is costing £44m! The trams will be £3-4 billion. We could do so much with that money.

The Scottish government / local councils love a consultation.

I posted on another thread that I had responded to a very niche consultation run by National Records of Scotland earlier in the year and they had a grand total of 30 responses. Total waste of money.

I’m surprised you didn’t know this was the plan all along. That’s why south bridge has been closed for the best part of 5 years. There’s a lot of work needed in the city but unlikely to happen due to the Cockburn Association trying to protect it like some sort of Scottish Disneyland.

Apparently the tram consultation had over 2000 responses within 3 days, people in Edinburgh definitely have a view on trams one way or another!

Yeah, it's been the plan since 2005 with the original tram network that was meant to be built. Things move on though, there are other options available now that don't involve digging up the entire city and laying tram tracks.

The South bridge thing is interesting, the Cockburn Association seem very upset about it.
I've joined the campaign to protect the wildlife corridor down the Roseburn Path. Aside from the cost, I cannot get my head around taking away green space instead of road space .

We just can't afford it and there's no real reason for more trams. We have a good bus system which works well and the first tram line did not add anything to the city. It took away road space and increased congestion

it is a vanity project that we don’t need. The roads here are in a dreadful state. Closing, demolishing and rebuilding the listed Dean Bridge is another bonkers option, where are all the buses from Fife and the north of the city going to go?

There's no way they're demolishing the Dean Bridge, not even Edinburgh Council is that crazy!! I don't get how buses and HGVs can go over it but not trams though, I think the suggestion of knocking it down was just rage bait 😂

And I totally agree it's a vanity project - don't know why anyone would want their name associated with it though, seems like a political disaster

I walked down George street earlier, homeless people in tents, and this is the priority?

Edinburgh council have lost the plot, yet again.

ASN for children massively underfunded and under resourced. Children’s futures being washed down the toilet, and they think 3 billion on a new tram line is a priority? Get real.

Personally we find the tram useful for getting into Edinburgh but of the many people we know who live in Edinburgh only one family uses the tram. Edinburgh has always had a really good bus service if they had made the tram park & ride system a bus system I really can't think what the disadvantage would have been.

I'm very concerned about sacrificing more green space to trams. Bloody consultations are just a handy way to burn up some money & then do whatever they'd decided anyway...

@Arglefraster Totally agree. We have a great, affordable, bus service. Trams are great, if you are going on a straight line, but they don’t provide the flexibility most people need.

Agree, where on earth would the money come from? Plus taking out a green corridor in the city. Meanwhile, there's a housing crisis and a social care crisis - can the council focus addressing these issues?

I've responded - total waste of money. The route from Princes St to Granton isn't heavily used - the primary buses along in direction are the 38 & 36, both single decker as not enough demand for a double decker bus. Trams over Dean Bridge are just crazy talk, and it would be a real waste to block the Roseburn Path when it's so popular with cyclists and pedestrians- plus that route doesn't even go to the WGH!

Joining up WGH & RIE isn't needed- no staff go between sites in a working day and patients are only transferred in an emergency so they aren't on a tram! Who is it for?

Buses replaced trams for a reason - more flexible and can run on most roads. Just subsidise the 36 if you want to improve travel from Princes St to Granton.

I live and work in Edinburgh and use the bus multiple times a week but never the tram. Even for the airport the bus is quicker.

I’m a relocated weegieso should probably not comment. My job means I travel all over the UK and I try to use public transport wherever possible. When I travel to Edinburgh I take the train or do the P&R at Ingliston and take the tram. Edinburgh has the best bus system in any city I travel within. It’s cheap, efficient and reliable. I can’t see how any further change to the tram network would outweigh the inconvenience of the disruption.

it would be a real waste to block the Roseburn Path when it's so popular with cyclists and pedestrians- plus that route doesn't even go to the WGH!

Totally right @CinnamonCinnabar Now that I've read the documents properly, they're proposing destroying the entire greenspace for a SINGLE line track. So not even a proper tram service, and it doesn't go close to the Western.

Link to the campaign group if anyone's particularly interested in the issues in the north:
https://www.savetheroseburnpath.com

I think the 36 is being taken off. My son in law drives it and the 30 and said he's going onto the number 2.

i have no idea who could be in favour of this. I also live near Cameron toll and it’s been a nightmare keeping that roundabout open these last few years. I work in Newington so my entire commute would be a nightmare.

I’ve lived in edinburgh 20 years now and have never stepped foot on the tram. Never saw the need and can’t believe the absolute mess they created when it was put in. I think it will destroy the city to do this work.

It's interesting that noone is for it. Hope everyone fills in the consultation and let's hope the council listens! I know sometimes it seems these consultations are tick boxes but I'm not sure they'd get away with ignoring overwhelming opposition. At least I hope they wouldn't.

I really don’t understand why they insist on building these tram lines rather than improving bus lanes and funding more bus routes. Buses are now electric so no extra pollution and so much more flexible and less infrastructure needed.
In the 10 years I lived in Edinburgh I’m yet to use a tram and I’m on buses at least 2-3 days a week. If they want to remove cars shut more of the central roads and convert to bus only will speed up travel at a fraction of the cost.

It's really depressing. I feel like the consultation is being presented as a choice between demolishing the Dean Bridge (obviously ridiculous and not happening) and the "palatable" option of destroying the Roseburn Path, which would mean destroying a genuinely widely used walking/cycling path (I actually used this commuting to the Western for a previous job). Anyone protesting the Roseburn Path option seems to be being tarred as either a nimby or opposing sustainable transport options.

I don't think Edinburgh residents have any enthusiasm for an additional tram. The huge delays, expense and impact on business of the Leith walk extension is still fresh in people's minds. The bus service is very good. I do use the tram sometimes (more reliable at getting through festival crowds), but it's very slow if going more than a few stops and seems to hold far less people than a bus. The council seem absolutely determined to push ahead with extending the line, but what for I really don't know!

Bumping this as I've just realised the consultation closes this week so it's the last chance to fill it in, whatever your views. I cannot see the justification for the cost at all, hope they go back to the drawing board on this and come up with a better plan that doesn't cost £3bn and destroy either nature or heritage
consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/tram-north-south/

Thanks for the reminder, will spread the word.

I don’t understand what the benefits of this would be. As I walked down the North Bridge pavement, choked with slow moving tourists I couldn’t believe that they were considering digging up this bridge yet again. Busses work well in Edinburgh.

They have however got rid of the consultations in relation to parking in Edinburgh I thought. The thinking being ‘we’re going to do it anyway so why are we wasting our time justifying it’. I’m surprised at this consultation as I think they’re just going to do this anyway too.