POLICE are today examining CCTV footage in an investigation into the first person hit by a tram, five days after Edinburgh's controversial new system was launched.
Transport for Edinburgh and Police Scotland confirmed the 14-year-old girl had had a "glancing blow" from a tram around 5pm yesterday.
The girl was waiting on the central reservation on Princes Street close to the junction of South Charlotte Street and crossed the road in front of the vehicle.
The driver of the tram performed an emergency stop and the girl was knocked backwards by the vehicle, which going about 17mph, before it stopped.
The girl refused treatment, but police were continuing to liaise with her family.
The tram, which was travelling west to the airport, went on until Shandwick Place stop where all the passengers got off.
The vehicle was then taken to the depot at Gogarburn where it was undergoing tests by police.
A spokesman for Transport for Edinburgh said: "We can confirm that a pedestrian was struck by a tram. We have informed the emergency services and we are investigating the incident so it would be inappropriate to go into any more detail at this stage."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "The tram was returned to the depot where officers will carry out tests."
The trams started taking fare-paying passengers on Saturday after six years in the making and a series of setbacks including a budget busting dispute with contractors and compensation calls from businesses who claimed to have suffered during its construction.
The £776 million trams system was due to start running three years ago at an original cost of £545m.
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