Edinburgh tram goes live tomorrow!

Edinburgh tram goes live tomorrow!

Author
Discussion

Chrisgr31

13,490 posts

256 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
It is surprising that this scheme was su a disaster, after all there are a number of other cities with very successful trams in the UK.

Leithen

10,945 posts

268 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
Excellent stuff ninja, however and against all odds I suspect that the Trams will ultimately be a success. The Corstorphine/St Johns Road nightmare could only get worse and consistently makes bus journeys that pass through the area at peak times far too slow.

The money ought to have been spent on upgrading and extending the existing rail network, but ultimately, I wonder whether there would be a capacity limit on existing lines.

The biggest loser from the cancellation of the Airport rail link was the rest of Scotland.

GuinnessMK

1,608 posts

223 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all

Spitfire2

1,919 posts

187 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
pcvdriver said:
Spitfire2 said:
Eh? What's that big station with tramlines at the airport for?????
It's not quite the airport where the tram Depot is.....just a mile or two away at Gogar (it's nearer RBS headquarters than the airport).
No I mean the tram stops all of 60 seconds walk from the terminal.

Spitfire2

1,919 posts

187 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
pcvdriver said:
0a said:
pcvdriver said:
Spitfire2 said:
Eh? What's that big station with tramlines at the airport for?????
It's not quite the airport where the tram Depot is.....just a mile or two away at Gogar (it's nearer RBS headquarters than the airport).
For clarity the tram does go to the airport - I was there yesterday. It takes 3 minutes to walk from the tram to the doors of the terminal.
I can just imagine that walk when it's absolutely pissing it down outside..... compared with the bus, where one alights and straight into the terminal.
Theres a covered walkway. Its easily 1 minute. I'm no fan of the trams but you guys are moaning for the sake of it.

technodup

7,585 posts

131 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
I had the misfortune to spend today in the godforsaken sthole that is our 'capital' city. Trams aside, as we all know that was a waste of money, the road surfaces are atrocious, the parking extortionate when you can find any, and between the bus lanes, tram lines and no right turns it's a wonder anyone goes near the place in a car. It's not exactly the easiest city to navigate at the best of times, but the council have made it impossible.

What Edinburgh needs is a motorway out of it. And I don't mean that to be funny, the M8 is a fking disgrace of a road. The main route between the two major cities is mostly two lanes each way and should have been upgraded instead of a few poxy trams.

Between the trams and the parliament building it's quite clear we can't be trusted to govern ourselves. For the love of god vote naw.

BTW if anyone wants 4hrs of free parking quite close to the centre use the Genting casino place at Fountainpark, just give the wee guy at the desk a bs story and get him to validate your ticket. Worked for me.

0a

Original Poster:

23,902 posts

195 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
I must admit I mostly ignore the no right turn (and left turn) stuff - most of them have no logical purpose beyond trapping the motorist in a frustrating loop away from where you want to go. Having lived in London parking doesn't seem too bad - I tend to head in at the times when on street parking is free.

technodup

7,585 posts

131 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
I was round and around Lothian road and it's neighbours countless times. It's the only place I've seen a bus lane in the middle of five lanes of traffic.

Art0ir

9,402 posts

171 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
Chrisgr31 said:
It is surprising that this scheme was su a disaster, after all there are a number of other cities with very successful trams in the UK.
3 letters. T.I.E.

skyrover

12,678 posts

205 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all

Edinburger

10,403 posts

169 months

Saturday 31st May 2014
quotequote all
Spitfire2 said:
Theres a covered walkway. Its easily 1 minute. I'm no fan of the trams but you guys are moaning for the sake of it.
You're right that the tram stops a minute or do under a covered walkway from the terminal building.

However, that wasn't in the original plans - it was to stop at the south gyle roundabout. Extending to Gogarburn for RBS and the airport makes a lot more sense.

anonymous-user

55 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
Chrisgr31 said:
It is surprising that this scheme was su a disaster, after all there are a number of other cities with very successful trams in the UK.
Are there any that have yet repaid the capital cost?

GuinnessMK

1,608 posts

223 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
Can the politicians not see ANY similarities between this tram line and HS2?

It's going to take longer, cost more, deliver fewer benefits than promised and the same benefits could have been delivered by less investment in the existing infrastructure.

Halmyre

11,219 posts

140 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
technodup said:
I had the misfortune to spend today in the godforsaken sthole that is our 'capital' city. Trams aside, as we all know that was a waste of money, the road surfaces are atrocious, the parking extortionate when you can find any, and between the bus lanes, tram lines and no right turns it's a wonder anyone goes near the place in a car. It's not exactly the easiest city to navigate at the best of times, but the council have made it impossible.
I agree about the cost of parking. There's no sense to it either, it's slightly cheaper to park for four hours at the pay and display in King's Stables Road than in the adjacent NCP car park at Castle Terrace. But even that is only slightly more expensive than two off-peak returns on the train.

vonuber

17,868 posts

166 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
From speaking to a few engineers who have worked in and around it, it seems that as noted above the utility diversions were a massive underestimate. Although having dealt with these myself, the stats companies aren't adverse to charging eye watering amounts of money for relatively small diversions. I remember one scheme I was on last year where the national telephone operator quoted 1,5million to move two cabinets (which we managed to design amd argue down to 150k, but that's still a hell of a lot).

lamboman100

1,445 posts

122 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
Looks like yet another Scottish vanity project.

0a

Original Poster:

23,902 posts

195 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
lamboman100 said:
Looks like yet another Scottish vanity project.
It's not limited to Scotland. The common thread is the public sector - they appear incapable of specifying and procuring such a contract.

Halmyre

11,219 posts

140 months

Sunday 1st June 2014
quotequote all
lamboman100 said:
Looks like yet another Scottish vanity project.
Aye, we're absolutely sick to the back teeth with all the vanity projects up here, what with the trams and...the trams and...erm, give us a clue here...

But yes, you're right, only I'm not sure whose vanity is being assuaged.

simoid

19,772 posts

159 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
Halmyre said:
Aye, we're absolutely sick to the back teeth with all the vanity projects up here, what with the trams and...the trams and...erm, give us a clue here...
I'll give you a few: foot of the Royal Mile, designed by a Spanish (?) guy, went 10x over budget...

I didn't know about that land being saved for an M8 extension through Sighthill/Saughton, interesting, thanks whoever that was smile it's always nice to remember previous good forward thinking by decision makers.

Instead of trams, it would seem you can run Lothian buses for a year on less than £100m. Why didn't we just make buses in Edinburgh free or insanely inexpensive? That's surely going to get people out of their cars.

Edited by simoid on Monday 2nd June 02:07

Soupie69uk

925 posts

218 months

Monday 2nd June 2014
quotequote all
I got a tram to work this morning as I was dropping my car off at Sighthill.

20 minutes to St Andrews Square. Was really impressed with it, super smooth, quick and only issue I noticed was that it was quite rough around the sharper bends and that cars at the Haymarket/Dalry junction were sitting in the yellow box junction which held up the tram for a couple of minutes.

Think it will be good for Hermison Gait and the Gyle as it seemed quite out of town but now its only 20-25 mins on a tram.

I almost wish I lived on the route so I could use them everyday.