Revenue-generating services will start operating along the Newhaven to Broughton tramway extension on 7 June 2023.
Testing at various speeds and to timetable will continue between now and June to familiarise drivers with the route and integrate software and signals with the control centre in darkest Gogar.
‘While this is a moment for celebration', said Council Leader Cammy Day this morning, speaking over the sound of locals grinding their teeth 'it's also a chance to reflect on the last few years.
‘I'd like to take the opportunity to thank residents and businesses for their patience during this major, complex project'.
Those behind the 8-stop, 2.9-mile extension are, for good reason, keen to emphasise that it has come in on schedule and under the £207.3m budget. We congratulate them.
They are less keen to emphasise associated potential cyclist/pedestrian collisions, paving slabs cracked by illegally parked delivery lorries, and the extent of ongoing snag remediation and public-realm works, including a rethink of the misconceived Elm Row design.
Cllr Day (pictured here with Transport & Environment Convener Scott Arthur) made the announcement this morning, posing for pictures as two 19th-century cable wheels discovered at the end of Pilrig Street in 2021 were lowered into position on Iona Street.
They (not the two councillors) will now go on permanent display as part of the newly pedestrianised Iona Street–Leith Walk junction.
