At last a tram … and it’s late, of course
Journeys end ... for now: the first edinburgh tram arrives at the depot on the Gogar bank roundabout on the back ofaflatbed lorry in the driving rain. Picture: TobyWilliams
THERE was a certain inevitability that when Edinburgh’s first tram finally arrived, it would be later than billed.
And so it was that when the first of the £2 million vehicles made its way into the Gogar depot yesterday, it kept everyone waiting just that little bit longer than expected.
Straight off the boat from Amsterdam, the tram had travelled on the back of three flatbed lorries up the A1, after docking at Newcastle early in the morning.
While it had been due in Edinburgh at 11am sharp yesterday, poor weather affecting the overnight sea crossing saw its eventual entrance delayed until closer to 1pm.
The vehicle had begun its long journey in Irun, northern Spain, the base of manufacturer CAF, which forms part of the tram consortium alongside Bilfinger Berger and Siemens.
Despite being the first of the 27 trams to arrive at the depot, there is another languishing in a West Lothian goods yard, after previously being on show in Princes Street.
It, too, is expected to move across to the depot in the coming days, as work on the tram project finally begins to gain momentum after a protracted row with contractors.
In a further sign of how things have changed, transport secretary Keith Brown is expected to visit the depot in the coming weeks with SNP ministers not previously keen on associating themselves with the project. Unfortunately for tram bosses, the arrival of the vehicle – and the first positive development for some time – came on one of the wettest days of the year.
Work to unload the seven separate modules was expected to take most of yesterday, with all the remaining vehicles due to roll off the production line and arrive in Edinburgh by the end of the year.
While the 27 trams were initially intended for both the line between Edinburgh Airport and Newhaven and a further “spur” line to Granton, it is now thought as few as seven will be needed to run between the airport and St Andrew Square.
Tram bosses had previously hoped to lease some of the vehicles to Croydon, but missed out on a deal with Transport for London, which runs the town’s tram system.
Work will now get under way on testing the tram, after overhead power lines in and around Gogar went live last week.
From early December, the tram will run on test track running parallel to the A8.
Jenny Dawe, leader of Edinburgh city council, said: “The delivery of the first tram to the depot is an important milestone for the project. It illustrates how far we have come since mediation and the good progress that has been made in driving the project forward in such a short period of time.
“With track testing due to begin at the depot later this year, we can now look forward to seeing the trams in motion for the first time.”
Graham Birse, deputy chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, added: “After all the recent debates about the funding, the route and the termination of the line at Haymarket or St Andrew Square, it’s fair to say we were all a bit weary of the project and the pace of progress.
“The agreement reached by the city and the consortium seemed to be a significant development, and the first tram arriving at the depot is an indication that all parties are determined to get this project under way and completed. It’s a sign that progress is being made at last.”
Email to a friend
Print this page- Family mourn death of Glasgow ‘fight’ schoolboy
- Rangers takeover: Duff & Phelps threaten legal action against BBC
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
- Rangers administration: Fans fear Duff & Phelps claims could scare off Green
- Rangers takeover: triple penalty punishment enough, says Johnston
- Alistair Darling leads ‘No to independence’ fight over tea and biscuits
- Scottish independence: SNP flip-flops over Nato
- Scottish Independence: SNP ‘won’t be Yes campaign’s only voice’
- Scottish independence: Alex Salmond’s pledge to sign up 1m voters
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Comments
There are 55 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
Hector the Lessor
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 07:34 AMI do not know about the CO2 emissions in Scotland, nor the ones in Tasmania, however I will comment that it is very cold, very wet and is evidently caused by reduction in the output of heat by the sun. Offhand I would say that provided the trams were waterproof, that could be the way to go.
Jools in Edinburgh
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 10:58 PM#49 toolittletoolate I'm very impressed. You managed to work out the co2 emissions of building this tramline as well as the co2 emmissions of every motorist in Edinburgh and the co2 emmissions of running the trams and the co2 emmissions of all the buses taken off the streets of Edinburgh as a result of the trams....that's some calculation. Care to furnish us with a breakdown of the figures on that?
B K
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 06:54 PMWhy couldn't it have been landed at Leith instead of Newcastle?
B K
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 06:50 PM#45 I agree. They tried to fix something that wasn't broken and broke it in the process.
Bunch of malcontent whingers
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 06:48 PM#21 Why not come home and contribute rather than sniping from the sidelines?
Allangnk
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 05:18 PMTo Chris Marshall: Chris you should read Edinburgh publisher Luath's new book, Last Tram Tae Auchenshuggle. Deals with the last tram to run in Glasgow. Luath will probably print a new book, First Tram To Princes Street, It will give them plenty of time to produce it!
TooLittleTooLate
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 04:22 PMLet's see, each tram needs to be ferried around using 3 low-loaders belching particulates into the atmosphere. That's after a lengthy sea voyage on a vessel burning bunker diesel. Oh well, that's another few tens of thousands of tons of emissions to add into this "green" transport paragon's carbon overdraft. Even if every private motorist in Edinburgh swooned at the possibility of a 1 in 4 chance of getting a seat next to a smelly old tramp and gave up their car in favour of the tram, the "modal shift" won't offset the CO2 generated by getting this fiasco in place for a couple of centuries (by which time we might have paid off the interest on the loan that the Council will need to take out to cover the first 5 years operating deficit).
Jams
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 04:08 PM#45 - heartily agree about website (but not necessarily your opinion). New site cannot be "browsed" like a newspaper. It is padded by repeating the same story under multiple headings and stories seem to hang around for a long time. Sorry EEN - spending much less time and getting much less enjoyment from the changed site.
Montford's Jaicket
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 03:18 PM#46 Don't be silly - the reason there are so many trams is so that each of the supporters of the wretched things can have their own!
Friar Tuck
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 02:56 PMThey may need all these trams. If things continue the way they've done in the last few years, they will probably keep breaking down. At least they will have lots of spares!
james(1)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 02:41 PMThis is a very poorly designed website! It takes too much effort to read other peoples comments. It's just as well that only my opinion counts?
james(1)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 02:37 PMI think you will find that this particular tram is very early. By the time a tram can actually run on the tram line it may be due for an MOT?
" . . . two lever arch files and a CD" ?!!!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 02:10 PMThe photograph shows the tram on a low-loader travelling down the road into the depot.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gogar roundabout has more lanes.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here to help.
antman
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 01:10 PMshould have spent the money cleaning up the city instead ...back to old times Edinburgh .....streets littered with piles of garbage ,big green bins in the streets .. seen it on google maps.... so can the rest of the world ......not exactly the best image....waste the money on a tram system....sorry a spur line from the airport ... when the streets look like a ghetto ? hello !!!!!WTF
antman
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 01:02 PMim guessing there isnt enough track to fit all 27 cars on the existing infrastructure ? and im also guessing the supplier will not re-negotiate .....or perhaps this hasnt been written into the contract as a possible öut".....or perhaps the ever reliable management havent put this on the table ....:(
Page 1 of 4
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.