North-south tram line decision will just come down to money - Steve Cardownie

The city council is being asked to initiate a 12-week consultation exercise to test public reaction to a tram extension route running from north to south through the city.

The public will be asked their views on the proposed route for the tram extension

Tomorrow’s transport and environment committee of City of Edinburgh Council will consider a report titled “Tram from Granton to BioQuarter and Beyond: Consultation for Strategic Business Case Development”.

The period of consultation is planned to start in Spring of this year. The report provides background information on why such an extension is not only desirable but is necessary if the city is to meet the transport challenges it will undoubtedly face in the near future. Future population projections show Edinburgh growing by 6.6 per cent compared to an overall increase in Scotland’s population of 1.8 per cent meaning that the strain on our current transport infrastructure will be struggling to cope unless it is improved.

The report tells us that when the City Mobility Plan was previously put out for consultation, public support for a tram extension and improvements to overall public transport provision was demonstrated “with 62 per cent of respondents confirming they would like to see an expansion to the tram network in the city, while 89 per cent would like to see a general improvement to public transport”. While the latter figure will come as no surprise, after all any improvements to public transport would be welcome, the former figure may raise a few eyebrows among tram sceptics. The public will be asked their views on the proposed route for the tram extension and will no doubt generate some considerable feedback, both for and against – particularly from those who live alongside the tramline.

The report acknowledges that such consultation will have to provide full details, stating: “The consultation will show the recommended route across the four sections (Granton-City Centre-Bioquarter and Bioquarter and beyond into the city region) and detail why it has been chosen. It will also give indicative locations for tram stops along the route. In addition. It will include details of the alternate routes that have been explored and the reasons why these have been discounted.”

The consultation will comprise of a series of multiple-choice questions and provision will be made for fuller answers by means of a free-text box as well as a series of public drop-in events. With financial estimates for building the scheme hitting around the £2 billion mark it promises to be one of the more important consultation exercises.

The results of the exercise will be reported back to the committee in the autumn and will include details of the number of attendees at events, number of comments received, social media/digital reach, impressions and interactions, analytics from web page, blog and online content and reporting from media outlets on the effectiveness of the campaign e.g. estimates of listeners.

Then it is proposed that the council will hold a further round of consultation in 2025/26.This would give residents, businesses and stakeholders another opportunity to comment on the plans before it moves on to developing a final business case which would then go forward to a full council meeting for approval. Of course, in the final analysis it will all come down to money, how much of it is there and where will it come from?