Scottish Government will fund Edinburgh South Sub feasibility study

[och aye]

Seems like a bit of a waste of money. No doubt it's technically feasible, but would no doubt cost a fortune to implement!

Much-anticipated South Sub 'tram-train' study to go forward after funding boost

The survey will assess the possibility of reopening the line to passengers using “tram-trains”, which are sturdier and faster than normal trams.

www.heraldscotland.com

Scottish Government will fund Edinburgh South Sub feasibility study​

The Scottish Government has confirmed that a feasibility study on the future of the South Suburban rail line will begin “as soon as possible”.

Last week, City of Edinburgh councillors instructed transport convener Stephen Jenkinson to write to newly appointed transport secretary Stephen Flynn about the issue and ask for the cash to be provided within six months.

In their election manifesto, the SNP had promised to provide money for the study.

On Tuesday, a Transport Scotland spokesperson told The Herald: “The Scottish Government will commission a feasibility study for the use of Tram-Trains on the South Suburban line in Edinburgh.

"Transport Scotland officials are currently developing options and work on the study will start as soon as possible.”

 

[zwk500]

Hmm, a couple of things jump out:
- This ties Edinburgh's tram network performance into the performance of the national rail network through Edinburgh. Especially at Portobello.
- The tram train will go *around* Edingurgh city centre, not into it.
- The sub is currently used quite a lot for freight and for turning trains.
- Edinburgh trams will presumably need to get a different fleet of vehicles (they'd have needed new ones anyway) with NR signalling to run on to the sub
- The sub would need resignalling to allow a sensible tram frequency.
None of these make a tram-train proposal to use the sub while keeping it part of the national rail network a particularly sensible idea.

If one of the options is to take the Sub out of the national network and resignal it as a segregated tram line (line of sight, 5 white dots), and it involved no conflict between Trams and trains, then the prospects improve a bit.

I still feel that the north-south option shown in the graphic is a far better use of energy, political will and money for the city of Edinburgh though.

 

[och aye]

To me it seems like this is a distraction to funding the North-South line.

At the same time, I don't think it's a totally bad idea every 20 years or so to look at the possibility of using the South Sub for passenger services again. Many things can change in that time, such as population changes, employment centre changes, new technologies etc. that can make the line viable for passenger use.

 

[Transilien]

- The tram train will go *around* Edingurgh city centre, not into it.

But a radial connection is useful, especially in the modern day, with suburbs having more than just houses.

 

[Farigiraf]

But a radial connection is useful, especially in the modern day, with suburbs having more than just houses.

Think you mean orbital, but nonetheless orbital connections typically only make sense when they're part of a wider network of routes in the city, including various radial lines. Maybe the south sub project is a good idea, but it should not precede the various other tram line proposals that actually serve the city centre. The routes to Granton and the Royal Infirmary make the most sense to prioritise, in order to get a north-south route in addition to the existing east-west route.
In the meantime, potentially Lothian could trial some new orbital bus routes in the city to get an idea of potential demand (noting that less people use buses than trams) for a fraction of the cost.

 

[AngusH]

The 38 bus runs pretty close to much of the planned route, I think twice an hour, single deck.
I take it a bit, and it fills up I guess, but there are usually seats.

On the other hand, a south sub tram might go to the airport and Edinburgh park linking them with the hospital, so that might attract a bit of custom that the 38 certainly can't because it cuts north.

 

[numtot12345]

The 38 bus runs pretty close to much of the planned route, I think twice an hour, single deck.
I take it a bit, and it fills up I guess, but there are usually seats.

On the other hand, a south sub tram might go to the airport and Edinburgh park linking them with the hospital, so that might attract a bit of custom that the 38 certainly can't because it cuts north.

Looking at the existing Lothian orbital bus services is a good idea. Aware there are faster orbital services linked to the Airport, however otherwise the 'local' buses from last time of checking timetables a few years ago were very slow and, depending on your start point, still quicker taking radial services into/out of city centre for cross-city travel.

 

[TheEastCoaster]

The 38 bus runs pretty close to much of the planned route, I think twice an hour, single deck.
I take it a bit, and it fills up I guess, but there are usually seats.

On the other hand, a south sub tram might go to the airport and Edinburgh park linking them with the hospital, so that might attract a bit of custom that the 38 certainly can't because it cuts north.

The 38 from the times I've used it have proven to be pretty popular, I think the demand is there, but it's all about attracting folk to jump on board with the idea.

Genuinely, I think the proposal is a good idea, for one it helps expand the Tram network and can create new links, if the South Sub route either runs to the Airport or City, or even both depending on how they utilise it.

I think personally it's all down to good marketing, for example Portobello to Morningside could take under half an hour, which when the 15 used to run into Portobello, it would take at least 40-50 minutes, now that's a niche example but the point is, it's a faster alternative that sounds appealing.


Traffic and Congestion is an overgrowing problem in Edinburgh, so this seems like a no-brainer, I do hope the government see sense in this and give it the go-ahead, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Be pretty interesting for the Tram Network if this does though..