Edinburgh Trams services were forced to terminate at Balfour Street for around three hours on Friday 18th September 2026 owing to a technical issue. A fault was discovered with the overhead line equipment on Ocean Drive during a routine inspection which led to the line being closed between Balfour Street and Newhaven.
The first reports of the issue were shortly before 1400 with initial estimates suggesting it would take around an hour to fix the problem. However, it was not until approximately 1715 that the line was fully reopened and services could return to Newhaven again.
Since the line to Newhaven opened after the Princes Street fire (just three weeks ago) the extension has had to be closed in some form on at least three occasions. There was the incident on 3rd September which saw damage to 259’s pantograph and then a further issue the following week before this latest problem with the overhead.
The location of this incident at least meant that trams could go as far as Balfour Street from where they used the crossover to return to the Airport.
The passenger information display at West End highlights the short-running of the service.
Its not everyday that you see a tram with Balfour Street as the destination. This is West End with 264 arriving.
At Balfour Street now and 264 departs from the stop at the start of its journey back to the Airport. As it does so it uses the crossover.
And 272 performs the same move as it embarks on a journey to Airport. (All Photographs by Roy Calderwood, 18th September 2026)