Transform Scotland, the national alliance for sustainable transport, has today published its response to The City of Edinburgh Council’s consultation on the next phase of tram route development in Edinburgh.
In the summary to its response, Transform states:
- Edinburgh trams’ have been a great success – from the start, passenger numbers and revenue on Edinburgh’s trams have exceeded forecasts.
- Building on the success of the first two phases of the tram network, a new line to Granton, in particular, is the essential next step.
- We need quick and decisive action so that the process to build this next phase can commence rapidly.
- With an increasing population, high quality transport links are fundamental to Edinburgh’s future growth.
- The tram is essential to cut travel times and make Edinburgh competitive.
- Expansion of Edinburgh’s tram network has strong cross-sectoral support.
Nigel Bagshaw, Transform’s policy advisor on trams, said:
“European cities have built extensive tram networks in recent decades because of the well-recognised and considerable benefits they provide to residents, visitors, and the economy. Having successfully extended the original tram line, Edinburgh has learned much about how to avoid pitfalls and delays. By using this experience and learning from European best practice, the city should make a swift start on building the extension to Granton so it can start contributing to the economic and environmental needs of the city.
“If Edinburgh fails to move forward with extending the tram network soon, it will lose the skilled workforce built up in recent years, making extension in the future more difficult and expensive. To ensure the city is best placed to capitalise and expand on the success of the tram network, we must see political commitment, efficient and clear decision-making, financial commitment and strong governance.”
