Edinburgh Tram developments

[Ceat0908]

Can't speak for Edinburgh but other tramways have something like this at tramstop signals to tell the driver that they are about to get the proceed signal, and they should close the doors and be ready to depart.

Edinburgh has these.

 

[och aye]

Progress map:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/tramstonewhaven/downloads/file/475/traffic-management-plan-ocean-drive-revisions-july-2021-pdf-

 

[EllieAquitrain]

Progress map:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/tramstonewhaven/downloads/file/475/traffic-management-plan-ocean-drive-revisions-july-2021-pdf-

View attachment 100309

I presume the categories in the key are arranged in chronological order? If so, does anyone know why that section at Pilrig Street is so far behind?

 

[takno]

I presume the categories in the key are arranged in chronological order? If so, does anyone know why that section at Pilrig Street is so far behind?

I'd hazard a guess that they're planning on doing a couple of the junctions last, once the rest of Leith walk is open again for access. Between the original utilities work, then about two years of abandoned roadworks during the pointless "reinstatement" and now the actual build, a lot of Leith walk has been barely even walkable for third of the last 15 years.

 

[EllieAquitrain]

I'd hazard a guess that they're planning on doing a couple of the junctions last, once the rest of Leith walk is open again for access. Between the original utilities work, then about two years of abandoned roadworks during the pointless "reinstatement" and now the actual build, a lot of Leith walk has been barely even walkable for third of the last 15 years.

Do I know it - I've been cycling up and down there for Deliveroo!

 

[och aye]

Images from the latest newsletter.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I hope these don't run overbudget and behind schedule again, since it's had an effect on a local business.

https://twitter.com/LosCardos/status/1428422531632013316

3. but coupling that with the ongoing tram works on Leith Walk has made long term viability of our business impossible.
4. Once the barricades for the roadworks were placed in front of our doorstep after the first lockdown eased, our footfall was drastically reduced & we battled logistical headaches with supplies and deliveries ever since.

Weren't some businesses on Princes Street also complaining during the initial tramworks because of the noise and reduced footfall?

 

[takno]

I hope these don't run overbudget and behind schedule again, since it's had an effect on a local business.

https://twitter.com/LosCardos/status/1428422531632013316

Weren't some businesses on Princes Street also complaining during the initial tramworks because of the noise and reduced footfall?

Businesses will always complain. The ones on Princes Street got quite a lot of compensation, and as with most chain stores, a lot of them were already suffering reduced footfall for basic death-of-the-high-sreet reasons. I don't doubt for a second that it's been hugely inconvenient for these businesses, but ultimately it's the wild covid overreaction from Saint Nichola that's done for them

 

[och aye]

Part of the original tram infrastructure has been uncovered in Leith Walk.

Huge 133-year-old tram wheel discovered by workers in Edinburgh

It is believed to date from around 1888, when the city's original horse-drawn tram system was switched to being powered by cables running under the rails to pull the trams along.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk

A pulley wheel from Edinburgh's original tram network has been uncovered - nearly 100 years after it was last used.

Archaeologists are celebrating after the wheel was discovered during work to extend the current line to Newhaven.

It is believed to date from around 1888, when the city's original horse-drawn tram system was switched to being powered by cables running under the rails to pull the trams along.

The find on Leith Walk near its junction with Pilrig Street is believed to be close to the so-called "Pilrig muddle" where passengers were forced to change from Edinburgh's trams to Leith's separate electrically-powered system.

The wheel is thought to have been decommissioned when the city's trams were electrified in 1922.

A similar wheel was discovered during non-tram excavation work around ten years ago at nearby Shrubhill but left in place and re-covered.

City archaeologist John Lawson said experts from Guard Archaeology would investigate and record the find in the next week.

He said: "This is a very important and interesting discovery.

"It is part of the original cable winding mechanism. We will then try to remove it for safekeeping."

No decision has been taken about whether it will be put on public display.

Tram fan ACamerumer, who posted pictures of the find on Twitter, said: "I'm hoping that they could be dug up, re-built and put somewhere along the route, or reinforced glass put on top so people could look down and see some historical engineering."

Paul Tetlaw, a rail expert at sustainable transport campaign body Transform Scotland, said: "It's a wonderful find so let's hope it can be preserved as part of future tram works."

Transport enthusiasts on Twitter commented that the forgotten wheel should be used as a feature on the route when the new line opens in Edinburgh.

Vlog about the wheels coming soon too:

https://twitter.com/TramstoNewhaven/status/1428690090092552205/photo/1

 

[Scotrail314209]

Can anyone shed some light onto how useful Gogarburn tram stop actually is? I know it serves the Bank of Scotland HQ, but there’s nothing else around it. Must be the least used on the network?

 

[eoff]

Can anyone shed some light onto how useful Gogarburn tram stop actually is? I know it serves the Bank of Scotland HQ, but there’s nothing else around it. Must be the least used on the network?

Well, it would certainly be no use if you were going to the Bank of Scotland HQ.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Can anyone shed some light onto how useful Gogarburn tram stop actually is? I know it serves the Bank of Scotland HQ, but there’s nothing else around it. Must be the least used on the network?

I reckon Edinburgh Park Central is up there as well, both were built really to house peak time traffic. Obviously things have changed though as well.

The least ‘non industrial/office’/regular suburban stop is probably Balgreen.

 

[NotATrainspott]

Can anyone shed some light onto how useful Gogarburn tram stop actually is? I know it serves the Bank of Scotland HQ, but there’s nothing else around it. Must be the least used on the network?

Not for long: West Craigs South

 

[och aye]

Indeed, there's going to be a lot of development in that area, including the large area of land that Edinburgh Airport will redevelop from the former original runway.

 

[chiltern trev]

133 sections of concrete being repaired at contractor's cost. Each repair is at a concrete joint which cannot cope with lots of heavy buses. The concrete should have a design life of 50 years.

Crumbling concrete forces repairs to 133 sections of Edinburgh’s tram line

Repairs have had to be made to 133 sections of Edinburgh’s tram line after concrete that should have lasted 50 years has crumbled under the weight of buses.

www.scotsman.com

 

[takno]

133 sections of concrete being repaired at contractor's cost. Each repair is at a concrete joint which cannot cope with lots of heavy buses. The concrete should have a design life of 50 years.

Crumbling concrete forces repairs to 133 sections of Edinburgh’s tram line

Repairs have had to be made to 133 sections of Edinburgh’s tram line after concrete that should have lasted 50 years has crumbled under the weight of buses.

www.scotsman.com

Edinburgh is full of roadworks at the moment, many of which the council is actually responsible for and paying for. If The Scotsman and the Tory group on the council weren't so single-mindedly focused on every single non-story about trams, which are an argument they lost 10 years ago, they could definitely still find *something* to mutter on about.

Interesting to know what the roadworks were though, and tbh I'm surprised and slightly impressed that the design life is as long as 50 years.

 

[AngusH]

There is a new progress video:

 

[Avenger20]

Not yet reported here, but York Place Tram Stop will close permanently after the departure of 2330 service to Edinburgh Airport on Wednesday 9th February to allow for the demolition of the stop. Until an as yet announced date in April, services will only run between Edinburgh Airport and West End, before extending to St. Andrew Square in April. Trams will continue to use the York Place turnback after this time, as the demolition works will be complete.

Link here - https://edinburghtrams.com/news/closure-york-place-stop-marks-tram-project-milestone

 

[Blindtraveler]

There was never going to be a great time to do this work which on the face of it seems highly wasteful, ripping up a stop that only a few years old but but I sincerely hope that they won't go all preachy preachy to us locals for ridership being even lower than that usually is at this time of year because of the the stopping short.

 

[Avenger20]

There was never going to be a great time to do this work which on the face of it seems highly wasteful, ripping up a stop that only a few years old but but I sincerely hope that they won't go all preachy preachy to us locals for ridership being even lower than that usually is at this time of year because of the the stopping short.

Keep in mind that it is in fact 8 years old now - obviously still very young as far as it's shelf life is concerned, but by no means wasted. The removal of York Place is quite simply neccesary and Picardy Place stop will be located a mere two hundred feet or so to the east. I also imagine that much of the materials removed from York Place will be reused in the building of Picardy Place Tram Stop.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Keep in mind that it is in fact 8 years old now - obviously still very young as far as it's shelf life is concerned, but by no means wasted. The removal of York Place is quite simply neccesary and Picardy Place stop will be located a mere two hundred feet or so to the east. I also imagine that much of the materials removed from York Place will be reused in the building of Picardy Place Tram Stop.

I was wondering "why on earth are they demolishing it before building the new one" - and that seems a perfect explanation - thanks! In essence it is in fact being moved.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Keep in mind that it is in fact 8 years old now - obviously still very young as far as it's shelf life is concerned, but by no means wasted. The removal of York Place is quite simply neccesary and Picardy Place stop will be located a mere two hundred feet or so to the east. I also imagine that much of the materials removed from York Place will be reused in the building of Picardy Place Tram Stop.

I agree, I find it somewhat unlikely that everything will go in the skip. Most of the concrete slabs will but the shelters, screens, readers are all reusable. Even the signal will probably eventually go, although this admittedly would be much closer to the opening of the extension as it will still be in use.

You could make an argument to say that Picardy Place stop could have opened in 2014. At the time I was actually surprised it went all the way to York Place, and was expecting a cut back to Princes Street or St Andrew Square.

But given the way the junction looks now and all the redevelopment I find it extremely unlikely the whole area would look as it does now infrastructure wise - which already is showing its flaws. Cycling infrastructure especially has picked up massively since then too.

 

[fgwrich]

Keep in mind that it is in fact 8 years old now - obviously still very young as far as it's shelf life is concerned, but by no means wasted. The removal of York Place is quite simply neccesary and Picardy Place stop will be located a mere two hundred feet or so to the east. I also imagine that much of the materials removed from York Place will be reused in the building of Picardy Place Tram Stop.

I was wondering "why on earth are they demolishing it before building the new one" - and that seems a perfect explanation - thanks! In essence it is in fact being moved.

You also have to remember that the current York Place tramstop needs to be removed to allow for the second track to pass through it. As it stands at the moment, the double track running down from St Andrews Square stops just short of the stop, running into a single track headshunt with the current platform built on the formation of the line coming up from Leith.

 

[NotATrainspott]

I agree, I find it somewhat unlikely that everything will go in the skip. Most of the concrete slabs will but the shelters, screens, readers are all reusable. Even the signal will probably eventually go, although this admittedly would be much closer to the opening of the extension as it will still be in use.

You could make an argument to say that Picardy Place stop could have opened in 2014. At the time I was actually surprised it went all the way to York Place, and was expecting a cut back to Princes Street or St Andrew Square.

But given the way the junction looks now and all the redevelopment I find it extremely unlikely the whole area would look as it does now infrastructure wise - which already is showing its flaws. Cycling infrastructure especially has picked up massively since then too.

If the gyratory works had already been finished then we probably would have had Picardy Place open back then. If I remember correctly, the St James Quarter developers were involved in this and plans were even drawn up to extend the tram line by a little stub, with a new turnback in the centre of Antigua Street. The tram completion project made that unnecessary, so we're getting the whole thing in one go.

 

[DanNCL]

The existing York Place stop was only ever intended to be temporary until an extension to Leith opened, and was built to a cheaper spec than the rest of the stops on the network. The shelter is effectively a bus shelter rather than one of the more substantial ones used at all of the other stops, and the railings separating the platform from the road are standard road railings rather than something you’d more commonly see at tram stops. Virtually everything removed from the stop will be re-useable, the ticket machines and information displays being reusable at stops on the extension, and the majority of everything else being reusable on road projects.

 

[SammyJ]

Very premature question, has there been any service related information. will trams just run Airport - Newhaven all day or will there be certain peak/off peak journeys that run half route?

 

[Elwyn]

Somewhere or other I read that most services will run the whole route Airport to Newhaven but something like 1 in 5 will only operate Haymarket to Newhaven. (Hence the passing or turnback loop just to the west of Haymarket).

No doubt someone will be able say whether that’s correct.

 

[Vespa]

I'm planning to visit Edinburgh in the summer hopefully the extension will be up and running, this will be my first ride on an Edinburgh tram, the only other Edinburgh tram I've been on was the vintage tramcar that never turned a wheel for many years.

 

[FlybeDash8Q400]

Very premature question, has there been any service related information. will trams just run Airport - Newhaven all day or will there be certain peak/off peak journeys that run half route?

Somewhere or other I read that most services will run the whole route Airport to Newhaven but something like 1 in 5 will only operate Haymarket to Newhaven. (Hence the passing or turnback loop just to the west of Haymarket).

No doubt someone will be able say whether that’s correct.

The current 7/8 min frequency will be maintained between Airport and Haymarket, with all of these trams extended to Newhaven.

There’s then going to be additional Haymarket to Newhaven trams which will use the siding just beyond Haymarket to reverse, it’s believed that these would to Granton should that extension happen, although the issue there may be if the extension is built via Orchard Brae etc rather than the former railway turned cycle paths.

I think there’s around 5 of these extra trams planned per hour (with more in the peak), so you could expect a tram to Newhaven from the city centre (and vice versa) around every 5 mins or better during the peak under that plan. I’m sure there’s a document somewhere that confirms the plans regarding frequency, I’m not sure where it is unfortunately.

I'm planning to visit Edinburgh in the summer hopefully the extension will be up and running, this will be my first ride on an Edinburgh tram, the only other Edinburgh tram I've been on was the vintage tramcar that never turned a wheel for many years.

Unfortunately the extension is not planned to be open until early 2023. It’s still in its construction phase in most places with the line expected to begin testing before the end of 2022.

 

[Vespa]

Unfortunately the extension is not planned to be open until early 2023. It’s still in its construction phase in most places with the line expected to begin testing before the end of 2022.

Not a worry at least I will be riding on what's already built plus it will be interesting to see the construction methods used to build the line.

Thanks for the heads up at least.