Details of the timetable and ticketing available on Edinburgh Trams has now been announced ahead of the opening of the line on Saturday 31st May. The first public tram will depart Gyle Centre at 0500 bound for York Place where it will then depart at 0530 before the first departure from Edinburgh Airport at 0618.
Trams will run every 10 minutes before 0700 each day with a 7-9 minute frequency being offered between 0700 and 1730. The service then reverts to a 10 minute frequency after 1730 until the close of service. The final full length journeys will depart the Airport at 2245 and York Place at 2308 with some later departures offered running as far as Gogarburn (from the Airport) and the Gyle Centre (York Place).
On the ticketing front Single, Return and Day Tickets will be available to purchase at the ticket machines provided at each stop. As previously reported there is a premium for travelling to and from the Airport which means that tickets covering the section between Ingliston and the Airport are a lot more expensive than any others (and the prices are higher than those previously suggested which isn’t likely to go down particularly well in Edinburgh).
The following tickets will be available from the machines:
Adult Single City Zone: £1.50 (all stops excluding Airport)
Adult Single Airport Zone: £5 (all stops)
Child Single City Zone: £0.70 (all stops excluding Airport)
Child Single Airport Zone: £2.50 (all stops)
Adult Return Airport Zone: £8 (all stops)
Child Return Airport Zone: £4 (all stops)
Adult Day Ticket City Zone: £3.50 (unlimited travel for one day to all stops except the Airport, also includes Lothian Buses)
Child Day Ticket City Zone: £2 (unlimited travel for one day to all stops except the Airport, also includes Lothian Buses)
Adult Day Ticket Airport Zone: £9 (unlimited travel for one day on all trams and Lothian Buses)
Child Day Ticket Airport Zone: £4.50 (unlimited travel for one day on all trams and Lothian Buses)
Family Day Ticket: £7.50 (all day travel for up to 2 adults and up to 3 children on Edinburgh Trams (City Zone only) and on Lothian Buses day services)
As the build-up to the start of services continues two road shows are to be held over the next two weekends to give the public the chance to meet Edinburgh Trams staff and to look around one of the trams. The events will take place on Saturday 17th and Saturday 24th May between 1200 and 1400 when there will be two trams at the stop. The chance will be there for the public to find out about the new service and user guides will be handed out as well.
Tom Norris, Edinburgh Trams Director & General Manager, said: “The closer we get to passenger service, the more people are eager to find out how they’ll use the trams once we go live. We’ve produced clear, step-by-step leaflets explaining how to validate your smartcard or Concessionary Travel card as well as use the ticket vending machines on the platforms and mobile tickets. We’re delighted to be hosting two public road shows on Saturday 17 and 24 May where members of the public can come along to St Andrew Square, have a look around a tram and familiarise themselves with its features as well as chat to our ticketing services assistants who’ll be on hand to answer any queries they might have about using trams come 31 May.”
* Full details of the timetable and fares information can be found at http://www.edinburghtrams.com/
So the poor old tourist flyng into Edinburgh Airport is going to be fleeced ! I hope tourist authorities advise passengers that the Airlink 100 bus is a far better/cheaper alternative than the tram for travel into city centre. Additionallly, although the project has beenn financed primarily by the Scottish taxpayer, Edinburgh Counci insist that only Edinburgh residents who hold a concessionary travel card (bus pass)will be entitled to free tram travel. I note that there’s no concessionary fare for pensioners who elsewhere in Scotland are entitled to free travel. Not exactly fair !
Are Edinburgh Trams “honest brokers” or what ?! As recently as last September, they announced that a return fare to Airport would be £7.50. The £8 fare is still £1 more expensive than the bus.
I hope that validation of tickets is not as fraught as the early Sheffield Supertram validation procedures that made me miss the tram while I was waiting for the ticket back from the validation machine.
So I went to the Edinburgh Trams “road show” yesterday (Sat 24 May 14) and got a copy of the “Guide to your new tram service”. Enclosed with this glossy publication was a copy of the new tram timetable. They’ve got it wrong again…..Bankhead, Balgreen, Murrayfield Stadium, West End Princes Street AND what will probably be the busiest stop of them all, St Andrew Square have all been omitted…….or is it that these stops will (temporarily) be omitted when the service opens next weekend ??!!
Other tramways don’t list every stop in the timetables – only the major ones & timing points…