Now here’s a turn up for the books – construction works set to be completed on time to allow for Edinburgh Trams to run between West End and St Andrew Square again from the end of March! Although no exact date has been mentioned, there is enough confidence to suggest that the works at York Place in removing the old tramstop and connecting the tram tracks between old and new together are progressing sufficiently to allow for the resumption of services into the heart of the city once more.
It was 9th February that trams last ran to York Place with the stop being permanently closed from the end of service on that day to allow for works in connection with the Trams to Newhaven project to take place. With the crossover for trams to reverse being located within the worksite needed to connect the tracks up, the stops at St Andrew Square and Princes Street were also closed from this date – but this was only a temporary closure to allow the first stage of works to take place. It was always planned that from April trams would again be able to run as far as St Andrew Square before they would then move forward round the corner to use the crossover at York Place to regain the correct track for return journeys to the Airport.
In the six weeks or so since the work began excellent progress has been at York Place with the old tramstop removed, new tracks installed and the original line being connected to the extension. It has now reached a stage where testing of trams to the crossover will be able to take place ahead of a resumption of services “by the end of the month”.
Lea Harrison, Edinburgh Trams Managing Director, said: “The reopening of stops to St Andrew Square will mark yet another significant step forward as we look towards the launch of services to Newhaven next year. We continue to work closely with our partners on this exciting project and, over the next couple of weeks we will be carrying out extensive testing and commissioning on the line between West End and St Andrew Square to ensure we can resume a safe and reliable service in the city centre.”
St Andrew Square will become the temporary city centre terminus of the line until spring 2023 when the extension to Newhaven is due to open.
Nearest the camera, one of the old rails in York Place (on the left) has been welded to the new rail from Picardy Place, whilst a length of rail has been removed from that section furthest from the camera and is sitting on the roadway just above the gap in the rails.
Five new centre poles have been erected between York Place and Picardy place across the junction with Broughton Street. (Both Photographs by John Hampton, 19th March 2022)