Trams in Edinburgh (TIE) have applied for planning permission to extend the 'display of [an] Edinburgh Tram Car to the public' on Princes Street (Ref. 07/01082/FUL).
They claim that this is a temporary measure, but Spurtle suspects there is a longer-term strategy in play.
The process of adjusting underground street infrastructure, laying tracks, and building necessary ancillary buildings for the new transport organisation has already proven far more difficult and time-consuming than expected. The timetable has been further delayed by interminable disputes between TIE and contractors.
Now, we believe, TIE has settled upon a cheaper and quicker alternative to the original proposal. It involves parking the supposedly 'temporary' tram car on Princes Street, then systematically digging up and moving the entire city past it from west to east. Whatever passengers might lose in terms of rapid journey times, they will more than make up for in terms of life-enhancing scenic engagement.
New Town residents fearing the prospect of an airport outside their windows can relax. By the time planes might begin landing and taking off in today's Drummond Place, tomorrow's Drummond Place would be situated in serene Prestonpans.