Over the next seven weeks we return to “Stop by Stop” as we continue a journey along the Edinburgh Trams system. Last time we featured the tramway in this series we had covered the Newhaven extension and now we carry on into the city centre and beyond. First stop St Andrew Square.
The tram will leave Picardy Place (which was the first stop on the Newhaven extension) and heads over the Broughton Street/Leith Walk junction before it enters York Place. We pass the location of the former York Place terminus (we’ll be back to take a look at that stop at the end of our look at the stops of Edinburgh Trams) and continue along the road until we take a sharp turn to the left into North Saint Andrew Street and then come to the St Andrew Square stop.
This is another island platform, with tracks either side of the platform. The stop has a single double sided shelter with ticket machines and passenger information displays at each end. With it being the closest stop to Edinburgh Waverley (albeit up a hill!) you will probably see plenty of tourists there with luggage waiting for a tram to take them to their hotels.
This photo, taken 30th June 2023, shows 255 standing at the Newhaven bound platform. With St Andrew Square Garden on the left here, this is a pleasant area to watch the trams going by and there’s even a handy bench too!
The second photo shows a tram standing at the other platform face. Its 266 with a service to the Airport. On the platform someone seems to be studying the card validator closest to us, a lady leans forward to press the button to open the tram doors and others are at the ticket machine wondering which ticket they need for their journey. This was 2nd July 2023. (Both Photographs by Gareth Prior)