Edinburgh Trams services in the morning and evening peak will now run every 5 minutes following a successful – and unpublicised – trial earlier in July. The new timetable was officially introduced from 26th July and will see trams running every 5 minutes between 0730 and 0930 and 1630 and 1830 – an extra three return journeys in both peaks.
Edinburgh Trams have been looking at increasing frequencies for some time – which will help to utilise the large fleet of trams better – and during the weeks of 11th and 18th July this new peak time service was trialled to check there were no impacts on traffic flows. With no adverse effects the decision was made to almost immediately officially introduce the new and improved service.
Lea Harrison, General Manager of Edinburgh Trams, said: “The trams have proved very popular since they were introduced, with passenger numbers increasing all the time. Although this is a modest increase in our capacity on the line it is still an important step in increasing the frequency of the service and providing more capacity during peak times so we can help even more people travel along the route.”
The system may have started on an unsure footing following the controversy of the construction period but since opening in 2014 it seems to have gone from strength to strength with this another sign that the public have fully accepted the line as part of the Scottish capital’s transport network. Now all we need is some extensions…