A major public consultation for Edinburgh tram expansion plan has begun, the City of Edinburgh Council announced.
The public consultation started on 25 August and will run until 17 November. During this period, the authorities are seeking the public’s views on the proposed new tram routes from Granton, in the north of the city, to the Edinburgh BioQuarter and Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in the south.
A detailed business case was developed to extend the existing route from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven, which was successfully completed in 2023 and now carries over a million passengers a month.
This consultation will inform the development of a Strategic Business Case (SBC) for the expansion, which will then be presented to the Transport and Environment Committee in 2026.
Edinburgh tram expansion plan proposes a new route which can be broken down into three main sections:
The Granton to the city centre: alternative route options are being considered which covers the Orchard Brae corridor or the Roseburn Path.
The For Orchard Brae section the costs are estimated between GBP 650 million – GBP 850 million (EUR 753 – 985 million) and is forecast to carry around 3.75 million passengers per annum by 2042.
The Roseburn Path route is estimated to cost between GBP 350 million – GBP 480 million (EUR 405.4 million – 556 million) and is forecast to carry around 4.25 million passengers per annum by 2042.
The entire route is forecast to cost between GBP 2 billion – GBP 2.9 billion (EUR 2.3 – 3.3 billion), depending on the final options selected, and carry around 38 million passengers by 2042.
The tram line from the city centre to BioQuarter and Royal Infirmary would begin at Princes Street on the existing tram infrastructure, allowing bus and rail interchange in the heart of the city centre.
The third proposed section includes potential extensions to Midlothian and East Lothian. This includes exploring a tram-train concept with Network Rail on the old Edinburgh South Suburban Railway.
Other potential options include connections with Musselburgh Railway station and Queen Margaret University (QMU) in East Lothian and to Shawfair with interchange opportunities into Midlothian and the Scottish Borders.
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