A report in The Scotsman has claimed that Edinburgh Trams could start operating six months “early” with the first trams running in public service by the end of 2013. However this story was quickly followed by a statement from the City of Edinburgh Council denying this and saying they remain on schedule to start operating by summer 2014.
The story, which was published in The Scotsman on 1st October, claimed that there were behind the scenes talks ongoing between interested parties which could see the first passengers being carried by the end of 2013. It is said that since the long-running and damaging dispute between the Council and the contractors was finally settled last year progress on constructing the tramway has been much improved with some claiming all disruption in the City could be over by Christmas 2013.
For their part the official Council stance remains that trams will be operating by summer 2014 and they will give one of their regular updates on current progress on 25th October. A spokesperson said: “We confirm that the project is making good, steady progress and passenger services are still scheduled to run by summer 2014. Every effort is being made to complete work earlier where possible.”
The report says that behind the scenes the Council administration are fairly confident they will be in a position to complete the project earlier than that announced but are rather wary in making this public in case any other unforeseen circumstances causes further delays as this would be yet another embarrassing set-back for the highly controversial project.
The idea of a phased opening has also been mentioned again with the chance that the section between the Airport and Haymarket will be ready to carry passengers first. Indeed test runs of the trams may start on this section by spring or summer next year. Currently the trams, of which deliveries continue regularly with all 27 expected to arrive in Scotland by the end of this year, are constrained to a small test track near to Gogar Depot but during next year this will gradually be extended to allows the CAF built vehicles to stretch their legs a bit more.
Obviously when discussing ahead of schedule in connection with the project to return trams to Edinburgh you have to be very careful as it is anything but ahead of schedule but this could potentially be good news as it appears that despite the Council’s denial things are progressing well and that there may be a completion of the work earlier than currently planned although whether that will lead to passenger journeys early remains to be seen.
* Meanwhile it has also been revealed that Edinburgh Bus Station will not close during tram construction works as had previously been announced. After discussions between the Council, the local community and bus operators it was decided that access to the bus station could be maintained without adversely affecting the tram works.