Fire smokes out a major tram problem

If the tram line is inaccessible for any reason, they have no alternative route. In the event of any incident like Friday's fire, trams would not be able to run at all. Meanwhile, buses still ran perfectly well because they are able to divert along different routes.

Buses provide a far more flexible and cost-effective public transport service than trams. The proposed tram scheme will only undermine Edinburgh's highly effective bus service.

Sheena Cleland, Lennie Cottages, Edinburgh

Lines will put a stop to marches

IT would be interesting to hear from TIE what plans they or the council have for the trams during the many marches which take place in Princes Street throughout the year.

Normally on these occasions buses are diverted along George Street and Queen Street. Obviously this can't happen with trams. There are also incidents of fires and accidents when buses can be diverted without too much inconvenience to the public.

Council tax payers in Edinburgh will rue the day that trams were introduced (if they ever are!).

Molly Brown, Stevenson Grove, Edinburgh

Transport network doomed to failure

I READ with interest your article and your editorial about the trams (News, July 30).

Dublin is held up by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) as a example of a success that they would like to emulate. However, are your readers aware that there are large numbers of suburbs in Dublin where commuters cannot get on the trams because the system is running beyond capacity in the rush hours? This has forced people back into their cars thus increasing their congestion.

Dublin has gone from a six-minute service to a five-minute service and is now finding it impossible to get down to a four-minute service because the current system runs on the road. The Irish have learnt from their mistakes and their next line is to be underground where they can run a quicker service with longer trams taking the capacity up to 10,000 passengers an hour.

Dublin is not destroying its heritage in the process. O'Connell Street will have the trams running underground. Edinburgh should have learnt from this and put the system underground.

The Edinburgh single-line system is doomed to failure. There are not enough lines and because the trams run on the road, capacity will always be limited. The passengers from the airport will ensure that no-one else can use it to commute from the west of Edinburgh into the centre.

John R T Carson, Kirkliston Road, South Queensferry

City streets facing a 21st century muddle

THERE were two train companies between Edinburgh and Leith, passengers wanting to travel to Edinburgh from Leith or vice versa had to get off and join another train for their final journey at Pilrig Street - this used to be called the Pilrig Muddle at the end of the 1920s.

When tramlines are installed along Princes Street and Leith Walk many buses will be cut, bus passengers wanting to disembark at terminals at Dalry Road, Glasgow Road, Lothian Road, North Bridge, London Road, Great Junction Street, Duke Street and Pilrig Street would have to join the tram. It would be confusing for local people and visitors - may be leading to an Edinburgh Muddle.

Trams run permanently - that means all kind of parades and cavalcades along Princes Street will be banned for ever. I am considering a petition to be set up in the autumn.

Harold A Nicolson, Edinburgh Railway Action Group, Lochrin Place, Tollcross, Edinburgh

This festival is not really for the people

I READ with interest a letter in the Evening News (August 2) from a Mr Colin Fox describing himself as the chairman of the Edinburgh People's Festival. I wonder if this is the same Colin Fox who was once a Lothians MSP and leader of the Scottish Socialist Party?

Having been booted out the parliament by the good people of the Lothians, I see Mr Fox is now pontificating to working class people about culture.

Mr Fox is in danger of developing a patronising attitude towards working class people. Does he really feel that the average show at the Edinburgh Fringe, far cheaper than, say, a ticket to a football match, is out of the reach of ordinary folk? Surely Mr Fox is living in a time warp. I also think that he does a pretty good job of insulting the many tourists who come to Edinburgh during the Festival.

Finally, in his letter, which is nothing more than an attempt to promote his so-called people's festival, he explains the culture that he wants to bring to the masses. His idea of culture, when you read his letter, consists of someone reading extracts from a book, a couple of stand-up comedians and the grand finale, a night out in Saughton prison. He says you can experience the whole event for 4 which I personally think is bit of a rip off!

J Brown, Cherry Lane, Mayfield, Midlothian

Why men deserve refund for sexism

EDINBURGH City Council's latest A-Z guide to services is very revealing about the council's deplorable pro-women, anti-men bias.

The guide's alphabetical list includes "women" - but not "men". In addition, there are contact phone numbers for women with drugs, alcohol, mental health and other needs - but not for men.

And to add insult to injury, the guide highlights the council's support for agencies offering help to "women who have experienced abuse and men who abuse" - neglecting the fact that men also experience abuse and women also abuse.

As long as the council denies men the same services as offered to women, the least that men should be entitled to is a reduction in council tax.

Robert Blakemore, Dalry Place, Edinburgh

No tolls won't help us cross that bridge

TOM MINOGUE (Your views, August 2 ) wears many hats, that of Scottish spokesman for the National Alliance Against Tolls being only one.

As a councillor I was accountable to many folk - the elections this year demonstrated that quite clearly.

But who holds Tom Minogue and his ilk to account?

Mr Minogue asks in his letter why I was so sure, when taking over as convener of the Forth Estuary Transport Authority in July 2005, that the Scottish Executive wished FETA to pursue a policy of introducing variable tolling. Let me cite the reasons:

FETA was established by the Scottish Executive to replace the old Forth Road Bridge Joint Board. The latter's remit was solely to operate and maintain the bridge. FETA was charged with also producing a local transport strategy - with variable tolling one key potential component of this;

the Scottish Executive half funded the work necessary to submit to them the application for variable tolling.

Mr Minogue is right to say that the old toll order extension was due to expire in March 2006. But this in no way implied an end to tolling. Rather, it was always anticipated that either another extension would be granted or, timescales permitting, a new order would be made which would allow the tolling regime to be fundamentally altered. Amongst these changes could well have been variable tolling - but also free passage for buses and higher charges for lorries.

I still fail to see how any of the challenges facing the Forth Road Bridge and cross-Forth travel generally can be adequately addressed by the removal of tolls as Mr Minogue advocates. Rather, these challenges will become all the more severe - increasing congestion, a deteriorating bridge and no local dedicated pot of money with which to implement measures to at least try to slow these remorseless realities down.

Lawrence Marshall, former FETA convener, King's Road, Portobello, Edinburgh