Edinburgh tram extension to Granton put on hold as Royal Infirmary route prioritised
Plans to extend Edinburgh’s tram network to Granton have been put on hold after councillors agreed to prioritise connecting the network to the Royal Infirmary.
Councillors were told that despite the potential of a tram link to Granton creating an economic value of £1.3bn for the area with 3,500 new homes, business and commercial opportunities, schools, health care and Europe’s largest coastal park, a lack of funding meant it would have to be delayed.
Instead officers recommended prioritising the south part of the link which will connect the network to Edinburgh’s Bioquarter and Royal Infirmary after establishing its likely funding through regional transport funding (Sestran) because of its wider importance.
A report by officers said bringing trams to the Bioquarter could be worth £1billion to the local economy with the creation of 9,000 additional jobs in life sciences and potential for a community of around 20,000.
The report was presented to City of Edinburgh Council’s transport and environment committee who were asked to approve putting the south section of the link forward for consideration as part of Sestran while putting the extension to Granton on hold.
It asked councillors to agree “the need to retain ambition to deliver a mass transit connection between Granton and the city centre, whilst recognising further work is required on route options before this section could be progressed.”
The committee heard ongoing opposition to alternative routes put forward for the Granton tram line which involved using Roseburn Path in the town or going via the historic Dean Bridge remained an issue.
And it heard the southern section of the link would require £30million just to create the outline business case for it with construction unlikely to begin for at least five years.
It is over two years since the Scottish Government said it would not provide funding for an extension of the trams in Edinburgh leaving the council looking for alternative ways to finance it further.
Committee convenor Stephen Jenkinson led a motion calling on elected members to approve the officers recommendations and focus on the link to the Bioquarter, which officers are confident will qualify for regional investment.
He told the meeting: “We need to be bold and have a vision and that requires taking difficult decisions. The north line does present political challenges and my hope is that we will, at some point in the future, be able to move forward and deliver it.”
Conservative councillors moved an alternative motion calling for the whole project to be scrapped describing it as a ‘fantasy’.
Councillor Neil Cuthbert told the meeting the project had ‘failed to win public support’, saying: “The north south tram work should stop here.”
However the call to prioritise the south line and put Granton on pause was approved by councillors by seven votes to four.