Edinburgh Trams are going to trial extended service times for a six week period from 19th October to help passengers make earlier flight connections and improve the service provided at Ingliston Park and Ride. The first tram of the day will now leave York Place 29 minutes earlier and from the Airport will be 89 minutes earlier than now.
The earlier start to the service is being trialled to test the impact on the maintenance regime for tram infrastructure and vehicles. It will also be used to see how popular the service will be although it might be thought extra services to the Airport may have been more popular during the peak holiday season and not in the midst of autumn.
Ian Craig, Chief Executive of Transport for Edinburgh, said: “The red eye trial is part of fitting a missing piece of the jigsaw into our service. Passenger numbers are healthy and customer satisfaction is high so now, after a successful first year and a healthy start to year two, it’s the right time to work up proposals for further enhancements. It’s important to remember that this extension will only last six weeks initially and then go back to normal so we can assess the findings properly with our maintenance contractors. Once that work is complete then full consideration can be given to a permanent extension of service.”
The trial will take place between 19th October and 29th November. The first tram times during this period will be:
First tram from Airport to York Place will leave at 0446 (currently 0615)
First tram from York Place to the Airport will leave at 0500 (currently 0529)
First tram to depart Ingliston Park and Ride will be at 0448 (currently 0618)
First tram will leave Gyle Centre bound for the city centre at 0430 (currently 0500)
In the press release detailing this news it was also reported that the popularity of Ingliston Park and Ride is continuing to increase. From 31st May to 29th August 2015 57,375 cars parked at the facility compared with 37,020 in the same period during 2014.