What do you think of Edinburgh getting trams?

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Silly Jilly â™£

In a city as beautiful as Edinburgh, our precious architectural heritage must be preserved, but we must also encourage progress.

Economic development improves people's health, wealth and happiness.

But when (as a consequence) our city becomes congested with previously unseen levels of traffic we need new solutions.

Trams work because their modern incarnation is sleek, quiet, attractive, clean and energy efficient.

We can achieve greater numbers of people moved than can ever be achieved with buses. Is it a painful process to introduce the system?

Yes, undoubtedly. That's why the Chamber of Commerce argued long and hard for compensation through rates revaluation and the city's 'top-up' fund to alleviate the hardship for small businesses affected by the work.

The real prize will come from modernisation, cleaner streets and increased footfall when the work is over.

Then demand will soar, just as it has done in Dublin and Nice.

Some complain the project is too limited to be of real value. The fact of the matter is the project we see now is only a beginning.

I see future development completing the Granton loop, extending out past the new Royal Infirmary to Queen Margaret University and Musselburgh, out beyond the airport to Newbridge roundabout, taking more cars off Edinburgh's roads.

After that we can look at light rail extending to Livingston, Dalkeith and across the Forth to Rosyth, or even better, Dunfermline.

Fast, frequent, efficient services alleviating the pressure on our road and rail systems which are already at capacity.

Meanwhile the Chamber of Commerce has pioneered the 'Open for Business' campaign to alleviate the difficulties of the construction period, especially for the retail sector.

The knock-on gain is an enhancement of our reputation as one of the most desirable places to live and work in Britain, matching up to our continental competitors as a city that can be forward thinking whilst preserving its fantastic heritage.

A place where quality businesses want to be because quality staff want to be here, with the best health, education, arts, entertainment and shopping experiences that we can have to enhance people's working lives.

Dublin suffered just the same resistance to the pain of change. Now they are on phase three of extending the system which has transformed a city strangling slowly to death through gridlock.

In the process, a key achievement has been the alleviation of poverty through the revitalisation of some of the city's most impoverished areas.

It is vital we bring Edinburgh's business and residents with us through this development, which will truly revolutionise the environment of our capital, how we travel and how we can respect our heritage, whilst helping build our economy. Isn't that worth the investment?

Ron Hewitt is chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

sandy

I think it's tramendous.

Anti - Barbie

it runs the route that the 22 runs now so what's the point. the money could be better spent resurfacing all the roads in Edinburgh - some of hem are in a shocking state.

kat woman

I think it's the biggest waste of money ever the mess it's caused the traffic jam's they have given no consideration to emergency vehicles we are all stuck in the one lane. We have a fantastic bus/taxi service in Edinburgh so why change it. The road's are in suck a ess. Nobody knows where they are going cause some roads have been closed some diverted so that have been closed for years are now re-open. It's a total nightmare.

Mas

I think its stupid to be honest, there is a perfectly good bus service for the city, so why fix it if its not broken.

The chaos it is causing at the moment is horrendous, instead of the 20 minutes it takes my daughter to get to uni, due to all the roadworks it now takes her an hour.

ak222002

it will be fine when they come , they are going to be different then the ones in manchester etc they are going to be the First like this in the uk due to the length etc

Lew

I have been to many european cities and a few English cities where trams are in use, in conjunction with buses and cars, and the system works well and efficiently.
The drawback with the proposed tram system in Edinburgh is that it doesn't cover enough of the city, the onus of the main local transport is still on the local bus service, which I have to admit has improved over the past years but is still subject to the usual traffic constraints.
I would favour the tram project more if it had been more of a city wide concept with more routes. It does seem to be a half hearted attempt at what could have been an innovative transport scheme although the expense of the system, as it is, may explain why it's not more extensive.

Bob

Forward into the past!

Natty-Lea

It's stupid. Edinburgh already had trams a long time ago. Then they got rid off them and replaced them with buses instead. The people of Edinburgh are mostly happy with their bus service. I'm pretty sure if they were asked to vote on it they would have rejected the idea of bringing the trams back. It's just going to cause a lot of problems. It already is with the roadworks spread out all over the city causing delays in almost every direction you go.

The tram service goes straight to the airport so it's pretty obvious they're just doing this to make things easier for the tourists going straight towards the city centre. How on earth are they going to manage running the normal bus services that go to all the areas the trams don't go near? The roads don't seem wide enough for both.

That probably means people will need to spend even more money jumping on a bus and then changing onto a tram just so they can get to work each day. It's going to be a complete nightmare. I can't even begin to imagine where they are going to fit the cycle lanes. The whole thing is a huge waste of time. :-/

AL G

a waste of time and money, the current disruption is only the thin end of the wedge, the people using them will be the same people who are using the bus at the moment so where is the gain?

203

We got the Metrolink system in Manchester quite some time ago now and it is superb and more expansion of the network is planned. Very reliable and frequent transport. One tram (more a light train really) every six minutes in peak times and every twelve minutes off peak. I live in a town ten miles from city centre Manchester and don't even contemplate driving there anymore. The metrolink is almost as quick and certainly cheaper when you consider the cost of petrol and city centre parking.

It will be a good thing for Edinburgh, I'm sure.

Fellside13

It's the 'In' transport feature at the moment, look at the systems already running in Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and London.

The downside at the moment in Edinburgh is the upheaval whilst the infrastructure is put in place.

It is rather ironic that the old trams were scrapped only for them to return albeit in a more modern style. I would think that the advantage for Edinburgh is the fact that it will operate principally from two outer points, through the City centre. Hopefully they can organise night time operation as there certainly is the need for public transport all through the night as I witnessed on my last visit there last year. A tram at night would have lower staff costs than the present bus services.

Angel

Blackpool, Manchester & lots of other places in England have had them for years, great idea,

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