Without wishing to be accused of being a 'tram spotter', I was in Edinburgh yesterday (for reasons completely unrelated to the tram opening) and took the opportunity to take a ride on the new tram, from Murrayfield into town and then back to the airport. It was packed to the gunwales, lovely atmosphere on board on a sunny warm day (no aircon!) everybody very jovial, lots of tramspotters with cameras, and many other people just riding it for the hell of it or a day out with the kids. Nobody I spoke to was using it to get from A to B, but no doubt Monday will see that change.
It has aroused a lot of controversy as it was massively overbudget, caused enormous disruption, took twice as long to complete as it should have done, and only covers half the originally planned route, as it was meant to go out to Leith. There were a few 'anti' demonstrators along Princes Street but very low key.
There were a few teething problems which probably should not, given the time they've been doing 'dry runs', not have occurred. The signs at the stops giving the interval until the next arrival were not working, but there were recorded announcements saying that 'trams will arrive approximately every 10 minutes'. Once came in horrendously crowded, I decided not to take it, and a minute behind was another one, almost empty. To my mind, some of the turn radii are too tight and the tram has to come almost to walking pace to go round them. It is more expensive (+£1) than the bus to/from the airport, and I can't help wondering if it will be a bit of a white elephant, although I wonder if the parallel bus routes will be gradually phased out.
