Edinburgh’s Princes Street no longer looks like a war zone, with work on its new tram lines completed yesterday after a year of road-digging, drilling and debris removal.
Street life has returned to the city’s main artery in the form of buses, taxis and cyclists, helping to complete the traditional pre-Christmas scenes of hustle, bustle and mild panic.
But does the installation of the tram lines – part of a £545 million-plus programme of some 11 miles of track from Edinburgh Airport to Leith and Newhaven, due to be completed in early 2012 – suggest local transport is moving in the direction of success?
Business groups certainly maintained they are “delighted” now that traffic – and increased numbers of shoppers – have returned to the area.
“This is great news,” said a spokesman for Princes Street gift shop A Truly Scottish Experience. “We are delighted Princes Street is vibrant once again. As you can see, the shop is packed – and it wasn’t like this a short time ago. What’s made the difference is that the streets are now clear of workmen and diggers. Life has returned to normal.”
Luke Griffiths, who runs market hamburger stall Well Hung and Tender, echoed the sentiment. “Princes Street is alive again,” he said. “Passing trade has soared today and as Christmas comes closer it will only get busier.”
He added: “I’m from Melbourne originally, and we’re a city with a great tram culture. I think it’s fantastic that Edinburgh will soon be able to offer something similar. Trams make sense.”
Tourists Sophie Hall and Neil Taylor, visiting Edinburgh from Wrexham, agreed. “This is a beautiful city, and when the trams are finally running the length of Princes Street and beyond it will look fantastic,” said Ms Hall.
Mr Taylor said he can’t wait to see the trams up and running. “We love Edinburgh and it deserves to have a great
tram system.”
Local resident Roz Lewis is delighted Princes Street is back to normal. “It’s great that Princes Street is open once again and you don’t have to walk hundreds of yards to cross the street, but I question the whole idea of the trams,” she said. “The idea of zero emissions is great, but Edinburgh already has a great bus service. At the moment it costs £1.20. Who knows what it will cost to go by tram?”
She added: “I’m not sure if Edinburgh Council has implemented this programme because it would like to think the city deserves it, rather than ask its citizens if they really need it. Perhaps the money could have been better spent.”
Londoner Les Perkins, currently working in the Scottish capital building a new gym facility, believes buses are best. “This is a fantastic city,” said the painter and decorator, “and Princes Street is magical right now. But I work all over and I’ve seen the trams in Manchester and Sheffield, and to be honest they don’t look that fantastic. In fact, if you ask me, they look a bit ugly. Putting trams on Princes Street would be like putting trams on the Tottenham Court Road. It just wouldn’t look right.”
When Edinburgh first introduced horse-drawn trams to the city in 1871 there was popular applause. But that scheme wasn’t the political hot potato
the current project – over budget and overdue – has become.
However, Edinburgh Council Leader Jenny Dawe believes yesterday marked a milestone in the city’s transport history.
“As the first physical on-street presence of the tram scheme, the track-laying along Princes Street was a monumental phase in the project.
“We now look towards the next phase of constructing a 21st-century public transport solution for Scotland’s capital city,” she said.
