Trams are an investment in the economic future of Edinburgh - Donald Anderson
There’s been a heated debate about proposals for a second tram line in Edinburgh, but there can be little doubt that the city would receive a huge econ-omic boost from more trams.
The initial tram proposals were controversial and the contract badly mishandled by the council. However, trams are one of the things helping deliver Edinburgh’s modern renaissance.
Edinburgh’s city centre management company, Essential Edinburgh – itself a key factor in Edinburgh’s economic success - recently highlighted £600 million of new investment beside the tram line, but the tram’s influence goes way beyond that.
Few people realise that when the old St James Centre was bought, investors TH Real Estate took the decision based partly on the fact that the site would be at the heart of the new tram line.
That investment over £1 billion has breathed new life into our city centre. In Leith Walk the regeneration was complete by the time the tram work was finished. Indeed, Leith Walk has become one of Scotland’s, most vibrant shopping streets with the advent of trams.
If you drew a circle a few hundred yards around the new St James Quarter, it would contain the area of a Scotland that’s seen the biggest investment anywhere in Scotland in modern times.
Edinburgh’s success cannot be taken for granted, though it too often is. The new tram proposals have not secured Scottish or UK government support, despite the fact that the extension of the Borders Railway has.
I’m all for the Borders Railway and supported it as council leader despite the fact that it had the worst business case of any UK transport project at the time. The Borders Railway is important for the Borders.
The key difference is that while the Borders Railway is important for the Borders, new Trams in Edinburgh are important for Scotland. That’s because Edinburgh’s growth - as Scotland’s largest economy - is what helps drive growth for Scotland.
And Edinburgh is not the only place where trams can make a difference. I understand that early next year Glasgow will choose the line for its new Metro proposals. Those proposals are important for Glasgow and for Scotland too.
Scotland’s economy is a twin-engined vehicle and we need both engines firing well for Scotland to succeed.
Trams have been an unqualified success for Edinburgh. As a capital city Edinburgh has never had the kind of investment that London has taken for granted.
The city’s business community, the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce recently highlighted the need for a continued focus on our economy in its recent ‘Call to Action’.
We need to compete with other city regions in the UK that are catching up fast. Edinburgh’s modern success is remarkable, but that success is facing increasing challenges.
The sound of the ‘thundering hooves’, made by English city regions that are nearer to London and Europe can be heard more clearly than ever before.
At no time in Edinburgh’s history have more people lived in greater affluence than they do today in Edinburgh. The challenge is to keep that success going and to spread its benefits to ever more of the city’s population.
New trams for Edinburgh is the most significant single initiative that can help boost our city’s economy. Ways need to be found to make it happen.