Edinburgh Corporation Tramways

Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh Scotland, operated by Transport for Edinburgh. It is a 14-kilometre (8.7 mi) line between York Place in New Town and Edinburgh Airport, with 15 stops.
Construction began in June 2008, and after encountering delays it opened on 31 May 2014. The scheme had an initial estimated cost of £375 million in 2003, but by May 2008, when contracts were signed, the cost had risen to £521 million. The final cost after delays was £776 million.

Edinburgh Corporation Tramways ran from 1871 until 16 November 1956. Since then, public transport has consisted of buses and a limited network of commuter rail lines. Towards the end of the 20th century, there was revived interest in trams and networks were introduced in Birmingham, Croydon, Manchester, Nottingam and Sheffield
Proposals for a tram network were made in the 1990s, and a plan to build a line along Princes Street and Leith Walk to Newhavenwas proposed in 1999 by the City of Edinburgh Council, Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise and the New Edinburgh Tramways Company.[6][7]

A 2001 proposal envisaged three routes, lines 1, 2 and 3. The first was a circular route around the northern suburbs, and the others were radial routes to Newbridge in the west and Newcraighall in the south.[8] All lines would have passed through the city centre. In May 2004, a 15-year operating contract was awarded to Transdev, to operate and maintain the tram network.[9][10] This contract was cancelled in 2009.[11]

Two bills to reintroduce a tram network were passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2006.[12][13] Lines 1 and 2 received parliamentary permission, but funding the entire network was deemed impossible. Line 3, to be paid for by a proposed Edinburgh congestion charge, was scrapped when the charge was heavily defeated in a referendum and construction of the remaining two lines was split into four phases:

Phase 1a 18.5-kilometre (11.5 mi) from Newhaven to Edinburgh Airport via Princes Street, combining parts of lines 1 and 2
Phase 1b 5.6-kilometre (3.5 mi) from Haymarket to Granton Square via Crewe Toll, comprising most of the remainder of line 1
Phase 2 linking Granton Square and Newhaven, completing the line 1 loop
Phase 3 extending the airport line to Newbridge, completing line 2

Following further disputes and delays, it was reported in March 2010 that Edinburgh Council was considering cancelling the contract with Bilfinger Berger.By June 2010, the project's cost had risen to £600 million. Council project managers were reported to be in crisis talks, considering options including: borrowing £55 million to fund the increased costs; phasing the introduction of the tram line, so that trams would initially run between the airport and Haymarket; and terminating the contract with Bilfinger Berger. The council asked TIE to draw up costs for truncating the line at four places: Haymarket station, York Place, the foot of Leith Walk or Ocean Terminal.

Work resumed in May 2011 at priority locations, Haymarket Yards and Gogar, while the project's future was decided by the council. In August 2011 it was announced TIE would be disbanded and consultants Turner & Townsend would manage the project

Haymarket. Edinburgh Park Central

The 14-kilometre (8.7 mi) route begins running on-street at York Place, in the city centreIt turns into North St Andrew Street, crosses St Andrew Square. From the square, it heads southeast into Princes Street, and west along the street toward Haymarket, via Shandwick Place, Atholl Place, and West Maitland Street.At Haymarket, the route heads onto a segregated track parallel to the Glasgow to Edinburgh mainline. It follows the railway line west for about 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi), to Edinburgh Park railway station. There, it leaves the railway line on a segregated track and heads north to Gogar Roundabout from where it heads northwest via Ingliston Park and Ride to Edinburgh Airport, where it terminates.
An additional tram stop is planned to open in December 2016 in the Gogar area, between the Gyle Centre and Gogarburn tram stops. This stop, to be called Edinburgh Gateway, will be built alongside a new railway station on the Fife Circle Line to form a transport interchange between Edinburgh Trams and the Fife Circle and Edinburgh to Aberdeen Lines.