The Great British weather has a lot to answer for doesn’t it? There are very few trams systems in the UK which aren’t affected at some time or other with the latest to see major disruption to their services being Edinburgh Trams. This time around it’s the rain which has caused problems with service on Saturday 5th December only being able to run for a small part of the route.
If having one lot of flooding wasn’t enough Edinburgh Trams was hit by flooding at both near to Edinburgh Airport and also between Gyle Centre and Edinburgh Gateway. As a result of this severe flooding (which was over rail head height in some places) the only trams able to run were between York Place and Edinburgh Park Station only. Anyone wishing to travel further than Edinburgh Park Station were advised that there was ticket acceptance on Lothian Buses.
In a statement on the Edinburgh Trams website an update was given: “Our Engineers are working around the clock to minimise the effects of the heavy rainfall to ensure we are able to commence full route services as soon as the flooding subsides. They continue to pump excess water however with the nearby Gogar Burn and River Almond at or above capacity, this is having little impact.”
Edinburgh has recently seen two nights of not only heavy rain but also snow thunder which has caused the problems with nowhere for all the excess water to run.