Ever since the Edinburgh Trams system opened in May 2014 one of its biggest positives has been how it can move large crowds of people quickly and efficiently to big events – especially those taking place at BT Murrayfield Stadium. In what has been a well oiled system of services running up to every 3 minutes before and after rugby matches hundreds of people have been quickly moved from the city centre to the stadium. Unfortunately, on Saturday 29th October – the first of the Autumn Rugby Internationals – things didn’t go as smoothly as usual with complaints of delays.
The complaints stem from the fact that trams were kept at a standstill whilst in the city centre with no explanation for the delay. There were also issues with how long it was taking for trams to turn by using the crossover at York Place (which they still need to use in order to change tracks for return journeys) and then being held at traffic lights.
Its alleged by an eyewitness, a local resident Robert Drysdale, that since trams returned to St Andrew Square there have been countless issues with the signallng system between there and York Place and this was again the situation on 29th October. By his estimations trams were running every six minutes at best instead of the advertised up to every three minutes.
The article which reported these complaints in the Edinburgh Evening News had no comment from Edinburgh Trams but the City of Edinburgh Council Transport Convener, Cllr Scott Arthur, was quoted as saying: “While we did not receive any reports of signalling faults on Saturday, we are continuing to work with Edinburgh Trams to monitor signals at this junction to identify any issues.”
The enhanced service for rugby fans heading to BT Murrayfield will get another chance to shine on Saturday 5th November when Scotland face Fiji.