Rail chiefs lay train and tram interchange plans on the line

Published on Monday 20 July 2009 10:37

NETWORK Rail bosses have submitted plans for a multi-million pound train and tram interchange to be built at Gogar.

The new railway station, which is expected to cost between 34 million and 37m, will be located to the east of the Gogar roundabout where the railway travels under the A8 Glasgow Road, and will be on the existing Edinburgh to Fife line.

Details on the plans will be revealed at a series of public exhibitions.

The station will be the main rail link to Edinburgh Airport, with passengers transferring on to trams for the final leg of the journey. It was proposed after plans for the 650m Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) were scrapped in 2007.

Councillor Kate MacKenzie, who represents the Almond ward, said that while EARL would have involved a costly underground station, she would have preferred to see a cheaper, above-ground railway station at the airport rather than the tram/train transfer at Gogar.

She said: "I'm not sure how well this is going to work, to transfer from Gogar station to the trams. Are you going to get the train and transfer on to a tram for a short distance, when you could just as easily get a taxi from the station?

"It certainly would have been better if we hadn't had a tram going to the airport and had a rail link there. I think that's the option I would have gone for because it gets a bit messy when you've got to transfer from one mode of transport to another."

As the Evening News reported last month, there are fears that completion of the tram project could be held up until May 2012 due to a nine-month delay on work at the neighbouring Gogar tram depot.

Although full details of the railway station plans have not yet been released, the planning application summary states: "The development will comprise platforms and passenger shelters, a station building, various lifts, escalator, step and ramp accesses into and around the building, and to the proposed adjoining tram stop and surrounding existing pedestrian footpath network, vehicular access and disabled and staff parking."

Network Rail is to hold two exhibitions on the plans at the Gyle Shopping Centre to give members of the public the chance to comment.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We're looking forward to showing the plans to the public at the Gyle. We're pleased to see this part of the project progressing and look forward to seeing how the consultation exercise goes in the next few weeks."

A spokesman for tram company TIE added: "The Gogar interchange will provide another link between the Edinburgh trams and Scotland's rail network. Crucially, it will also allow rail passengers quick and easy access to Edinburgh Airport. We look forward to working with Network Rail and Transport Scotland to make this interchange a reality."

The consultation exhibitions will be held on 29 July from 10am to 5pm, and 13 August from 10am to 8pm at the Gyle.