Edinburgh Tram developments

[reb0118]

I used the tram begrudgingly on Wednesday Morning to get to the Airport from Edinburgh Park - £5.50 is a rip off !!!

Just to make sure people were being subjected to the extortion they had RPI's on the Gates at the Airport - I've never seen that before !!!

Next time get your ticket from the guard on the train before you reach EDP. Only £4.00 if you hold a valid rail ticket.

NB make sure the origin is Edinburgh [EDB] not Edinburgh Park [EDP] as weirdly you will be charged the EDP to EDB fare on top if you do not!

http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=EDB&dest=EDA&rte=1002&tkt=BDS

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[Butts]

Next time get your ticket from the guard on the train before you reach EDP. Only £4.00 if you hold a valid rail ticket.

NB make sure the origin is Edinburgh [EDB] not Edinburgh Park [EDP] as weirdly you will be charged the EDP to EDB fare on top if you do not!

http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=EDB&dest=EDA&rte=1002&tkt=BDS

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I'd driven into work and left my car there (near edinburgh park) whilst flying down to Birmingham.

What I am asking is the reason for the huge premium for using the Airport as opposed to tootling up to town. Does a share of the £5.50 go to the Airport, or are Airport Passengers subsidising thosewho only travel outside that zone?

 

[reb0118]

Airport passengers will pay a premium. They might not be happy but they will still pay.

Market forces & all that.

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[WestCoast]

Budget travellers can use the number 35 bus

 

[reb0118]

Indeed. 35 to Gogar. Tram to West End. 41 to Corbiehill. All on a £3.40 plus bus.

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[transmanche]

What I am asking is the reason for the huge premium for using the Airport as opposed to tootling up to town.

Transport convener Councillor Lesley Hinds said:

Like most cities, there’s an airport supplement and this is part of the business model to ensure the service is cost effective in operation.

Source: The Scotsman

Others might say "because they can". Airport supplements are hardly novel when new infrastructure is built to serve an airport; Heathrow Connect in London, line T2 in Sydney are a couple of examples that spring to mind.

 

[HA25322]

Birmingham International railway station to Birmingham Airport using skyrail is (wait for it) ........ Free!!!!![emoji33]
In respect of the chingage in Edinburgh. Yes it's high. I suspect the airport authority set the price but I would assume most people who use it are holiday or business travellers and not bashers so pay it as a matter of course. Me I rather walk from the park & ride.


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[gingerheid]

Airport fares are often high...

... but where they are there's usually some kind of premium service being offered. Often it's faster, and / or runs for more hours a day.

 

[Butts]

Birmingham International railway station to Birmingham Airport using skyrail is (wait for it) ........ Free!!!!![emoji33]
In respect of the chingage in Edinburgh. Yes it's high. I suspect the airport authority set the price but I would assume most people who use it are holiday or business travellers and not bashers so pay it as a matter of course. Me I rather walk from the park & ride.


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I remember the Maglev the original shuttle at BHX - opened in 1984 the first of it's type in the World. It's less than a mile so hardly comparable with the Tram.
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Airport fares are often high...

... but where they are there's usually some kind of premium service being offered. Often it's faster, and / or runs for more hours a day.

The Bus is often quicker and the last tram departure from the Airport at 2245

 

[HA25322]

I remember the Maglev the original shuttle at BHX - opened in 1984 the first of it's type in the World. It's less than a mile so hardly comparable with the Tram.

But Edinburgh Airport to Ingliston is only 50 chains so I would say very comparable?????



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[Butts]

But Edinburgh Airport to Ingliston is only 50 chains so I would say very comparable?????



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The Tram goes all the way to the City Centre and does not just link one part of the Airport with another like the Airlink which is an internal service.

 

[HA25322]

The Tram goes all the way to the City Centre and does not just link one part of the Airport with another like the Airlink which is an internal service.

But people were talking about the high cost of that part of the tram network?


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[Butts]

But people were talking about the high cost of that part of the tram network?


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I was trying to figure out why it should attract a premium rate when Manchester or Newcastle Airports don't with their respective systems.

 

[HA25322]

Then again look at Gatwick and Heathrow Express. And I suspect Stansted Express (although I have never used it) ok I know it's heavy rail compared to this light rail but the same principle applies. They all charge premium rates which people pay. Probably because they are the easiest and quickest option and all of them think that they can change what they like as the business & holiday people will pay it.


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[me123]

For the most frugal travellers, you can walk from Ingleston P&R to the airport in about 15 minutes. I have kind of done this before I'll admit.

I would agree that the surcharge for traveling the last few chains to get to the airport is excessive, but sadly it's commonplace around the world for airport travel to be charged at premium. It does compare favourably with the costs of car parking at the airport* which is probably how they get away with it.

* I recommend the excellent Secure Airparks

 

[jkkne]

I used the tram last week for the first time after staying in Edinburgh Park with work?

City bound trams were very busy, no doubt festival and tourist related, equally the Airlink bus was packed. Heading back they were really quiet and staying late in the city I used the Scotrail service which ran much later and wasn't too expensive at all.

I found it odd that Waverly isn't directly served and is a shortish walk from St Andrews.

On the conductors, lots of people, including locals boarded without tickets and they were more than happy to sell them £1.60 fares. Perhaps a grace thing with the Fringe?

A nice initiative, as an outsider I'm really not sure of the point of them

 

[edwin_m]

Airport fares are often high...

... but where they are there's usually some kind of premium service being offered. Often it's faster, and / or runs for more hours a day.

Not always. Madrid Metro has (or at least did last year) a flat fare of €3 for any journey, including to a station beyond the airport, but it is €5 to or from one of the airport stations. If you haven't bought an airport ticket at the start of your journey I think there are machines inside the airport paid area allowing the extra to be paid before exiting.

Another one is the OrlyVAL in Paris, which charges a premium fare to link with a RER interchange, so there is no extra comfort on the journey and indeed the extra inconvenience of having to change trains.

 

[och aye]

I found it odd that Waverly isn't directly served and is a shortish walk from St Andrews.

The plan was to have line 3 directly serve Waverley Station at the Princes Street entrance.

A nice initiative, as an outsider I'm really not sure of the point of them

Most Edinburgh folk think the same to be fair.

 

[Butts]

Anyone noticed the latest wheeze on Edinburgh Trams - a "new" Return Ticket for £3.20.....

How much is a single ? - yes you guessed £1.60 (excluding the Airport)

Could they not have knocked the 20p off - tightwads

I have an irrational hatred of the "Airport Zone" or stop as it should be correctly referred to. Last time I returned from Edinburgh Airport with hand baggage I legged it up to Ingilston to avoid the £3 plus premium for 1 stop.

 

[Mordac]

Anyone noticed the latest wheeze on Edinburgh Trams - a "new" Return Ticket for £3.20.....

How much is a single ? - yes you guessed £1.60 (excluding the Airport)

Could they not have knocked the 20p off - tightwads

I have an irrational hatred of the "Airport Zone" or stop as it should be correctly referred to. Last time I returned from Edinburgh Airport with hand baggage I legged it up to Ingilston to avoid the £3 plus premium for 1 stop.

You can take the 35 to Islington P&R and the tram from there!

 

[Zoidberg]

You can take the 35 to Islington P&R and the tram from there!

But, that'd involve two fares for most folk.

Unless pressed for time, I'd just take the 35 into town.

 

[Mordac]

But, that'd involve two fares for most folk.

Unless pressed for time, I'd just take the 35 into town.

I tried doing that a couple times, it made me want to kill myself!

Just buy a day ticket, and you're good to go, as those are also valid on the tram, and you get free onward travel in Edinburgh for the day!

 

[Zoidberg]

I tried doing that a couple times, it made me want to kill myself!

Just buy a day ticket, and you're good to go, as those are also valid on the tram, and you get free onward travel in Edinburgh for the day!

Day Ticket is fine if one expects to make more than two journeys during the day, Butts point is about the excess charged for travel to/from the airport stop.

And I enjoyed taking the scenic route from Lothian Road to the airport last time I did it. It was an airport style bus, with posh seats, too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

On the conductors, lots of people, including locals boarded without tickets and they were more than happy to sell them £1.60 fares. Perhaps a grace thing with the Fringe?

A nice initiative, as an outsider I'm really not sure of the point of them

I equally find the conductor thing odd - it's a bit Borismaster-esque with no gaping hole to watch over. Either have them and have them take the fares, or don't have them and just have roving revenue staff issuing PFs.

 

[Butts]

I equally find the conductor thing odd - it's a bit Borismaster-esque with no gaping hole to watch over. Either have them and have them take the fares, or don't have them and just have roving revenue staff issuing PFs.

If they got rid of the Conductors perhaps the "Airport Surcharge" could be reduced.

 

[edwin_m]

Both Madrid and Barcelona have flat fares on the Metro for around £2 but impose a surcharge if you want to get through the barriers at the airport station.

 

[ModernRailways]

Both Madrid and Barcelona have flat fares on the Metro for around £2 but impose a surcharge if you want to get through the barriers at the airport station.

There's a lot of similar setups around the world.

Chicago, for example, let's you into the Airport for the normal fare, but if you want to leave the Airport and head towards Downtown Chi then you have to pay extra.

New York has a strange setup in that you have to pay for the AirTrain so essentially an extra charge - it is classed as a separate system though.

Newcastle, here in the UK also charges extra for the Airport by putting it on it's own in Zone 3.

Are there any examples in other major cities? Asian cities, Singapore, Hong Kong?

The price is stupidly high in Edinburgh though for the extra distance when you can see the Airport from the prior stop.

 

[TheEscapist_]

Hong Kong and Vienna do the same. More expensive express train to the airport. Although I think in Hong Kong the only one that goes to the airport is the expensive one.


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[DynamicSpirit]

Are there any examples in other major cities? Asian cities, Singapore, Hong Kong?

San Francisco is the same (or at least, it was last time I was there). That setup is notable because the airport station is not the end of the line - there are trains that stop at the airport en route. On those trains you'll be charged more if you exit at the airport than if you stay on the train to the next stop, thereby making a longer journey. (And the same if you enter at the airport).

 

[LLivery]

Sydney. When the East Hills line was diverted via the Airport all new stations (Green Square, Mascot, International and Domestic) charged a station access fee. The access fee was charge because the route isn't owned by the NSW Government, but this was removed from Green Sq and Mascot some years back as it was seen as unfair to local residents; now the fee is paid by the state.