Edinburgh Tram developments

[61653 HTAFC]

Who'd have thought you'd need to tell folk not to come into contact with overhead cabling.

Essentially it's legal backside-covering. Of course, 99.9% of people know better, but if they didn't publicise it and there was an unfortunate incident we all know what would happen... :roll:

 

[Eagle]

Who'd have thought you'd need to tell folk not to come into contact with overhead cabling.

But then again who'd have thought that quite a few people seem to believe that the third rail is only live when there's a train approaching.

People are idiots. And apparently it's frowned upon to suggest that them getting themselves killed by their own stupidity is a useful form of natural selection that allows the human race to evolve :P

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Though the road layout through Haymarket is awful, with some spectacularly bad planning - such as only having a rank for 3 taxis outside the station.

Yes. It appears that 4 taxis can fit into the bay comfortably, 5 possibly, and that the 6th will definitely obstruct the tram, and the only place for the 6th taxi to go (assuming that all of them don't move forward) is to pull out into the space between the taxi rank and the adjoining bay marked for cyclists).

You can see the 5th taxi in this image, and can just make out the rear of the 4th in front of it :-


If they DO all move forward, then the front taxi begins to encroach on . . . . the tramline.

I understand that the new 'Interchange' building will incorporate a taxi rank near the top of the escalators, and, of course, who'll use taxis? Surely everyone will travel to and from Haymarket by bus, bike or tram in our wonderful future Capital City?

Who'd have thought you'd need to tell folk not to come into contact with overhead cabling.

I expect there will be a few embarassing moments - whether it's a private contractor or civic utility vehicle we don't know, but someone, sometime, is bound to make contact with the cable. (Window cleaners use a lot of nicely conductive wet materials)!

 

[Zoidberg]

There's a chance to see an actual running tram on Princes Street tonight. Happy tram spotting

From http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...am-to-run-on-princes-street-tonight-1-3219838

A tram will run along Princes Street tonight for the first time in more than half a century.

One of the new fleet will leave Haymarket at about 11pm to be driven along the length of the famous shopping street as testing reaches the final section of the £776 million line.

The nighttime trial has been greeted as an historic landmark for the city, coming more than 57 years after the final convoy of trams last trundled along Princes Street on November 16, 1956.

Crowds are expected to gather along parts of the 1.7-mile long stretch of track where testing will be carried out for up to five hours tonight and into the early hours of tomorrow.

 

[Deerfold]

Crowds are expected to gather along parts of the 1.7-mile long stretch of track where testing will be carried out for up to five hours tonight and into the early hours of tomorrow.

Let's hope there's no rioting.

 

[90019]

Lovely weather for it.

 

[Zoidberg]

Lovely weather for it.

A bit wild in civilisation, is it?

 

[90019]

A bit wild in civilisation, is it?

The rain had started at about 10, and it was getting fairly windy when I got back in from work about 12.

 

[edwin_m]

Is this the only thing on rails moving in Scotland? (with the possible exception of the Glasgow subway).

 

[MK Tom]

Is this the only thing on rails moving in Scotland? (with the possible exception of the Glasgow subway).

If you mean in terms of rapid transit, and not counting the entire Scottish rail network, then yes, apart from that people mover up the side of a mountain.

 

[snowball]

If you mean in terms of rapid transit, and not counting the entire Scottish rail network, then yes, apart from that people mover up the side of a mountain.

I think he meant today, with the entire Scottish rail network shut down because of the weather.

 

[edwin_m]

Yes that was my intention. Did it actually run?

 

[Zoidberg]

Yes that was my intention. Did it actually run?

It did

Difficult to insert a link atm, but see Edinburgh Evening News website for info.

EDIT - Extract from the 5th December report by the Edinburgh Evening News at http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...m-finally-arrives-on-princes-street-1-3221258

The first tram to travel along Princes street in 57 years reached the famous Edinburgh thoroughfare early this morning. Gina Davidson was there to capture the momentous occasion.

AT two years and ten months, it was perhaps the longest wait ever recorded for a date to show up under the House of Fraser clock.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Trams running through city centre

Not my video:
[youtube]krk7qfTgtdQ[/youtube]

Edinburgh trams testing in the City Centre on the evening of the 22nd and into the morning of the 23rd January 2014 utilising tram 265

1. Tram 265 arrives at Atholl Cresent for the start of the night tests
2. Tram 265 leaves the West End-Princes Street tramstop heading into Shandwick Place
3. Tram 265 arrives back on Princes Street heading round the curve from South St Andrew Street
4. Tram 265 leaves the Princes Street tramstop heading for Haymarket Yards to turnback
5. Tram 265 heads on a second eastbound run at Shandwick Place

 

[tbtc]

Tram 265?

Are they planning on a really big fleet?

 

[overthewater]

Does Lothian buses have a fleet number 265?

 

[Deerfold]

Does Lothian buses have a fleet number 265?

http://www.glasgowbuses.site11.com/Lothian.htm suggests there is a gap between 215 and 285. It wouldn't surprise me if they wanted to ensure there's no duplication of numbers though I don't know that.

 

[edwin_m]

Are they doing what Croydon and (I think) Nottingham did, starting the numbering where the historic trams left off?

 

[Zoidberg]

Are they doing what Croydon and (I think) Nottingham did, starting the numbering where the historic trams left off?

The original trams didn't go as high - not even into triple figures if I remember correctly - so, I think not.

EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking of route numbers, not vehicle numbers.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The Edinburgh tram fleet numbers are 251 to 277.

 

[90019]

Trams running through city centre

Not my video:

They started doing night time testing of the signalling amongst other things a couple of weeks back.

With regards to the numbering, it'll slot in amongst the fleet numbering of the buses.

 

[Zoidberg]

From today's Edinburgh Evening News at http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...s-daytime-testing-brings-excitement-1-3313705 a report and video clip of the first daytime running of the trams which occurred yesterday.

Exctract:

It was 3.30pm yesterday when the first tram seen on Princes Street in daylight for more than 50 years began snaking its way in from Haymarket.

Seven years of turmoil and a £776 million hit to the council’s coffers later, this was a genuine “were you there?” moment in the city’s long and colourful history.

That it was empty, travelling slowly and there was no opportunity to actually get on it seemed immaterial.

On board instead was a team of engineers and Edinburgh Trams general manager Tom Norris, who tweeted pictures along the 8.7-mile test run from the Gogar depot to York Place and back.

Finally getting somewhere!

 

[90019]

From today's Edinburgh Evening News at http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...s-daytime-testing-brings-excitement-1-3313705 a report and video clip of the first daytime running of the trams which occurred yesterday.

Apart from the one that ran along Princes Street during the day for the launch of the new livery a while back.

 

[kylemore]

Apart from the one that ran along Princes Street during the day for the launch of the new livery a while back.

That was on the 17th December as I just happened to be in Edinburgh that day and saw the tram coming down St. Andrew St and heading along Princes St. I was surprised later to find out this was the first ever daylight run and that routine testing had not started.

 

[edwin_m]

Apart from the one that ran along Princes Street during the day for the launch of the new livery a while back.

And (going back to the original quote) "the first tram seen on Princes Street in daylight for more than 50 years" was surely when one of them was parked there for public viewing a few months ago. I think the mockup visited even earlier but that probably doesn't count as a tram.

 

[Techniquest]

Well at least we're nearly at the point of being able to tram it from the airport to Haymarket! I keep holding off booking a flight to Edinburgh so I can scoop the line at the same time!

 

[90019]

And (going back to the original quote) "the first tram seen on Princes Street in daylight for more than 50 years" was surely when one of them was parked there for public viewing a few months ago. I think the mockup visited even earlier but that probably doesn't count as a tram.

I think that was about 3 years ago, before they had to rip up and redo the tracks on Princes Street.

IIRC, they had to move it after a few months because they didn't have planning permission for it to be there.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

That was on the 17th December as I just happened to be in Edinburgh that day and saw the tram coming down St. Andrew St and heading along Princes St. I was surprised later to find out this was the first ever daylight run and that routine testing had not started.

I was rather surprised to see it on Princes Street heading back to Gogar as I was going the other way with a 1.

 

[PaulLothian]

Worth noting that driver training runs now are frequent - in a brief bus trip yesterday along the east end of the tram route, saw three trams simultaneously in operation between Scott Monument and York Place. Still some issues with traffic light timings; according to a bus driver, the trams' triggering of lights in their favour tends to slow down bus access onto Princes Street from side streets. He was optimistic it will be sorted out.

The trams look much longer on the street than when sitting in the depot!

 

[90019]

Worth noting that driver training runs now are frequent - in a brief bus trip yesterday along the east end of the tram route, saw three trams simultaneously in operation between Scott Monument and York Place. Still some issues with traffic light timings; according to a bus driver, the trams' triggering of lights in their favour tends to slow down bus access onto Princes Street from side streets. He was optimistic it will be sorted out.

I doubt it - this is Edinburgh Council we're talking about.

They've given priority to the trams at every single junction, regardless of where the lights are in the sequence at that point, and as such it totally knackers the traffic flow every time one passes.
It's the same out at the Gyle, where I sat for five minutes* at this junction as two trams passed.


If the trams were given the same priority as everything else is, it would work fine, but because they don't want their little vanity train set getting stuck in traffic (which it will regardless) they've given them absolute priorty, and bollocks to everyone else. :roll:


*Seriously. I was a minute late when I got to the lights, which were already red, and six minutes late when they finally changed to green after the two trams had passed.

 

[PaulLothian]

I doubt it - this is Edinburgh Council we're talking about.

They've given priority to the trams at every single junction, regardless of where the lights are in the sequence at that point, and as such it totally knackers the traffic flow every time one passes.
It's the same out at the Gyle, where I sat for five minutes* at this junction as two trams passed.

Fairly much my experience - only two buses at a time being able to get out onto Princes Street from St Andrew Square...

I am certainly not anti-tram, just very aware that they were supposed to be part of an integrated public transport system, and you don't get that result by delaying journeys of nearly all bus passengers in Edinburgh. There aren't that many Edinburgh bus routes that don't touch Princes Street!