Tuesday 19th November will go down as another major milestone in the Edinburgh Tram project when the overhead line is energised between Bankhead Tram Stop and York Place, meaning that the entire length of the tramway will be live for the first time. This will be the forerunner to full system testing commencing in December ahead of an opening of the tramway by May 2014.
Ahead of the energising of the wires the City of Edinburgh Council have released safety information for local residents and businesses warning them not to undertake any high level work in the vicinity without first getting permission from Edinburgh Trams. Cllr Lesley Hinds, Transport Convener on the City Council, said: “Anyone who lives in or owns a property near the tramway and needs to carry out work within a ten metre vicinity of needs to be aware of these important safety measures. We’ve been in contact with hundreds of residences and businesses along the route and we’re urging them to read the guidance and approach us to agree a safe way of working. In normal circumstances, the overhead wires are high up, out of the way and safe but they can pose a danger if appropriate guidelines aren’t followed when working nearby.”
Meanwhile Edinburgh Trams are currently recruiting for a number of Ticketing Services Assistants (TSAs) to join the team in advance of the start of passenger services. There will be 52 positions available with the role including carrying out ticket inspections on board the trams and ensuring all passengers travelling on board the trams have paid for their journey. TSAs will also be expected to provide customer service advice and guidance to passengers. Once these roles have been filled the majority of recruitment for Edinburgh Trams will have been completed.
Applications have now been opened and interviews will be held over the next couple of months with start dates for the role staggered from early January to March 2014. There will then be a period of comprehensive training for successful candidates. Once they start the jobs they will work on a rota system with an average of 40 hours a week over seven days. The starting salary will be £17,000 per annum.
Cllr Hinds commented: “Understandably there has been a focus on the role that tram drivers will play in the launch of the new service and we were overwhelmed at the amount of interest in these positions. However we need a whole team to help ensure the smooth running of the new tram service and TSAs will play a vital part in this. They will be the face of the service, dealing directly with the public on a daily basis, and so we’re looking for personable, professional people who will help us to deliver an efficient and customer focused tram service for Edinburgh. This is an exciting phase in the project with preparations for the launch of passenger services beginning to move up a gear. The target for service launch is May 2014 but we’ll bring this forward if we can. It’s important to recognise the significance of this testing, commissioning and staff training programme. There is much to be done and it’s vital that we are as prepared as we can be before passenger services begin.”
More details on the jobs can be found at http://www.edinburghtramscareers.com/ (not by commenting on this story or by emailing us, we are not Edinburgh Trams!)