Edinburgh Trams

[Parkey]

Anyone willing to guess at the odds of the potential Edinburgh tram network surviving the week?

Basically a majority of the Scottish Parliament and business in Edinburgh support the scheme, for all the obvious benefits it would bring, and canceling it now would mean the waste of £100m of taxpayers money as preliminary work has already begun.

BUT

The SNP want to cancel it because they don't think it'd provide value for money. They'd spend the money on abolishing bridge tolls, road building and a token extra bus. Sadly they also have the right to use the power of democracy to overrule the majority.

Surely something for £600m is much better value for money than absolutely nothing for £100m.

Guess which side I'm biased toward.

[FirstGlasgow]

I agree with you Parkey that investing more money in public transport rather than road building makes sense. But then again, everything in Edinburgh is just for tourists, so I just hope it's more than a showpiece. Shame that the capital doesn't compare favourably with Glasgow, where we have (imo) a reasonably good bus system coupled with the largest suburban rail network outside London. Good ol' SPT ...oh, and First ScotRail.

[Parkey]

I just find the level of political dithering over the supposed lack of value of transport infrastructre projects incredibly irritating.

Despite the highly vocal objectors every tram scheme that's been built in the UK has been highly successful. Give people a fast, modern public transport alternative and they'll use it, and watch the inward investment flow in.

[orudge]

I've not really followed the Edinburgh trams so much, but I'm also interested to see what happens with regards to the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link, which the SNP also want to cancel or scale back. Despite both EARL and the trams (I think) having been approved by the previous parliament, it's somewhat annoying that the new administration wants to cancel them. As I said in a previous thread, I think investment in roads and so on is a good thing, particularly in areas where it's badly needed (new Forth bridge, etc), but there certainly needs to be investment in public transport too.

[Parkey]

Ahh. It looks like they're going to be built after all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edi ... 243158.stm

The trouble is that widened roads and new roads attract more traffic. Replacing the forth road bridge is an obvious priority, but one has to be very careful when it comes to widening roads to relieve bottlenecks, it just makes the road busier and shifts the bottleneck elsewhere.

[Kevo00]

Well the problems here are 1) the SNP's heartland is Scotland's car rural drivers who have no real need for public transport; they have no interest in the problems of the bigger cities. Congestion almost doesn't exist in places like Angus or Buchan.
2) The SNP has no majority and can easily be overuled by the other parties - although it is amazing their Green party allies support ideas like cancelling the trams.
3) There is no need for a whole new railway to Edinburgh Airport! They should build it cheaply by adding a station on the line that passes it already, and this would allow through services from Aberdeen and the Fife Circle to stop at the Airport.

[Parkey]

...although it is amazing their Green party allies support ideas like cancelling the trams.

Haven't you heard? Trams kill kittens!

In fact in Nottingham there's a group called "Environment not trams". They're campaigning against trams in favour of fuel cell powered buses because "Trams are not that clean - electricity has to be generated somewhere and it mostly comes from either coal or nuclear powered stations". Interestingly they don't say on their website where the hydrogen would come from...

[Kevo00]

Lol! I remember reading about that group previously - didn't they also claim that trams went at 125mph?

Amazing what NIMBY motorists will say just because they are worried that a tram will block their precious road!

[Parkey]

Well exactly. The idea that trams "clog up the roads" is ridiculous. Firstly trams often run partly on segregated lines, so that's already some traffic off the roads, and secondly one tram will carry 150+ people, which in rush hour terms is probably at least the equivalent of 120 cars. 120 cars are much better at clogging up the roads than a single tram!

Some people have a legitimate complaint, such a shop owners worrying about a drop in business whilst the road in front of their shop is dug up, but most objectors to the tram just do so for the sake of complaining I think. Worried by change I guess.

[Griff]

Work begins on city tram project

Preparatory work has begun on a new £600m tram system for Edinburgh.
Contractors are moving gas and water pipes, as well as phone and electricity cables in Leith, so they will not be damaged when the trams are operational.

Only one firm, Alfred McAlpine, will carry out the work at the city's Ocean Terminal, to minimise disruption to the public.

The project, which will include a link to the city's airport, is expected to be completed in three and a half years.

The SNP government agreed to move forward with a tram network for Edinburgh in June, despite originally saying it was not cost-effective.

The preparatory work, announced in February by former transport minister Tavish Scott and costing £60m, marks the first phase of construction for the project.

Letters have been sent to residents living near to where the work is being carried out, and "tram helpers" will be on-site to keep members of the public informed about noise and traffic disruption.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edi ... 282428.stm

[Parkey]

Sorry to resurrect a dead topic, but I found this picture on this site and just had to share it.



It has to be one of the funniest official pictures I have ever seen.

For a moment I thought it was the official Edinburgh trams website. It's not though, this is.

[Kevo00]

No wonder people were suspicious of the trams

[Ameecher]

There a number of those "professional" photoshops. It's not just the tram aligned dodgily, it's the "rails" that it's running on that are a good chuckle too.

[Kevo00]

And the overhead wire zooming off into orbit!

[Ameecher]

Just noticed the boyracer blacked out windows and body kit

[Parkey]

All it needs now is a spoiler and blue lights underneath.

Didn't one of these trams spontaneously catch fire in blackpool a short while back?

[Ameecher]

Yeah that one in the picture infact, since it's the only one ever built. It's being repaired though.

[Parkey]

I think the tram itself looks hideous! It's got a very 1980s cheap plastic look to it. *shudder*

The low-floor Parry People Movers definately look better. Not that either would be used in Edinburgh