Edinburgh’s next tramline

“The fact that a majority of those who responded to the North-South tram line consultation oppose its construction comes as no great surprise. There has been a well organised campaign against the use of the stretch of former track bed through Roseburn in particular and there remains a well-established, but ultimately ill-informed, belief in the city that trams are unnecessary and unworthy of funding.

“However, none of this alters the facts before us. As we pointed out in detail in our response to the consultation, trams are absolutely essential to the future of the city for a whole range of social, economic and environmental reasons and they also provide a capacity which simply cannot be achieved by buses alone.

“Similarly, there is no viable alternative to re-opening the former Granton Branch Line in the north since the on-road ‘Orchard Brae’ route over the Dean Bridge is entirely unfeasible and because no miraculous third option is, realistically, ever going to appear.

“It is also worth remembering that the principal purpose of a consultation exercise is to highlight any unforeseen issues and take account of any consequences of a project, not to provide a veto on a democratically adopted plan. And in this case, earlier consultation has led precisely to amendment and compromise in terms of mitigating the impacts on both the natural environment and active travel. Note should also be taken of the fact that in the online survey both ‘males’ and ‘older people’ were over-represented.

“Not to progress the North-South line now would be to ignore the proven benefits of trams and, most significantly, abandon any serious attempts at reducing the city’s congestion and climate emissions at a time of urgent need.

“Our hope is that City of Edinburgh councillors will appreciate the full scale of the city’s transport problems and the need to address them as quickly and effectively as possible, by continuing to invest the time and effort necessary to create an extensive tram network for the future.”