Since construction work started three years ago in November 2019 we’ve reported on various different milestones as progress has continued on the Trams to Newhaven project in Edinburgh and its time for another significant milestone to be reached – overhead wires are now installed on most of Leith Walk!
Over the past week there have been a number of overnight road closures along Leith Walk to allow the specialised overhead team to work unhindered on stringing the overhead above the tracks. This has meant that excellent progress has been made, with much of Leith Walk now seeing overhead wires in place.
Work on completing the overhead installation will be continuing over the next few months. It is planned that the majority of the main works will be completed by early 2023, and although there will still be the necessity for more works to take place next year, it should be possible for commissioning and testing to get underway in the first few months of the year as well. Things remain on target for a Spring 2023 opening – exact dates to be announced but expect it be towards the end of that season to allow them to make sure everything is working as it should be.
Now this is a sight we have all wanted to see in a long-time – overhead wires along Leith Walk! With centre poles (which double for street lighting – old lampposts at the side of the road are to be removed) in place the wiring is now in place Now all we need is some trams! (Photograph by Roy Calderwood, 18th November 2022)
Good to see such positive progress!