Edinburgh Tram System Inquiry

[E27007]

Edinburgh Tram project. ​

The inquiry aims to establish why the Edinburgh Tram project incurred delays, cost more than originally budgeted and through reductions in scope delivered significantly less than projected.​

The final report of the Inquiry which commenced in 2014 is expected to be released in the near future
The final cost of the Edinburgh Tram Project was £ 776 million against a budget of £375 million

 

[duncanp]

Isn't it the case the enquiry itself also took much longer and cost much more than it was originally intended to?

You couldn't make it up.

 

[E27007]

Isn't it the case the enquiry itself also took much longer and cost much more than it was originally intended to?

You couldn't make it up.

The report is not out yet, but due, the Project delivered only 8.7 miles of about 12 miles. £375 million for 12 miles, around £30 million a mile, the project delivered 8.7 miles and costs were more than £90 million a mile of route, a £9 million annual operating loss even with a ridership of almost 3 million per annum

 

[DanNCL]

The lack of profitability I suspect can largely be put down to the fully integrated ticketing. Of those 3 million annual passengers, how many of them were buying the same Lothian buses tickets anyway before the tram opened? Probably quite a lot of them.

 

[duncanp]

The lack of profitability I suspect can largely be put down to the fully integrated ticketing. Of those 3 million annual passengers, how many of them were buying the same Lothian buses tickets anyway before the tram opened? Probably quite a lot of them.

Whereas in other cities such as Birmingham or Nottingham you pay more if you want a season ticket or day ticket that includs the tram, than if you want a ticket for buses only.

Similarly in London you pay more for a ticket that includes travel on the tube than one that is for buses only.

But in Edinburgh if they made tram + bus tickets more expensive than tickets for buses only, would that make people more inclined to use buses that parallel the tram route.