Repairs have had to be made to Edinburgh’s tram line after concrete that should have lasted 50 years crumbled - your views online

Crumbling concrete forces repairs to 133 sections of Edinburgh’s tram line

Tram Trams Shandwick Place work to repair cracked concrete

John Geraghty

I was in charge of breaking out the concrete from Haymarket train station to Jenners in 2012. There were no trams or heavy plant running on site. We could see there was not enough depth and the steel for the concrete was not strong enough for the weight.

Lesley da Fonseca

What a laughing a stock we are.

Gordon Guthrie

Each pour of concrete has a small cube of concrete taken for analysing by engineers for stress and crush testing. These results are recorded and can be identified for their location.

Mandy Zerifex

The trams are a fiasco. Why is no one looking at the loss they make, yet they're extending them? Huge loss, so let’s make it worse.

Stuart Gallacher

Project managers did an outstanding job.

Ralph Ridley

Poor quality workmanship and quality control.

Terri Bowker

That’s surly a design fault rather than the buses fault. The weight of a full bus should have been taken into consideration when the concrete was being poured.

Chris Cuthill

I can only assume that the council and tram contractor weren’t aware that buses would be sharing the road space, hence why they are pointing blame?

Andrew Ralph

They should have built a monorail.

Keith Robertson

The toy train set, built in toy town fashion.

Leah-ashley Brown

Nothing compared to the potholes they refuse to fix on the road, plus all the tarmac that can't withstand bus weight.

David Black

I'm sure this will be covered by Lord Hardie when he publishes the result of his inquiry into the trams fiasco. Maybe in another 10 years time.

Julie Aldred

The concrete on Shandwick Place had to be replaced even before the trams started running, so don't blame the weight of the buses for bad quality materials being used.

Henry Campbell Gillan

The trams are here to stay. The small length of track from west Edinburgh to the centre attracts tens of thousands of passenger journeys every week, the vast majority locals. The Leith section once opened will no doubt attract many thousands more. Ok a few metres of concrete has crumbled alongside the track. These things happen. It's called maintenance. The trams themselves run as smoothly as they did on day one seven years ago. I suspect much of the criticism comes from people who rarely or have never set foot on the trams. By the time the Leith section is finished our city will have a quick, high quality cross city public transport link serving the rapidly growing Leith and Edinburgh west areas.

Craig Ferguson

Never mind, there will be an enquiry which will cost thousands, nobody will be held responsible but the important thing is they will learn from this!

Lioslaith Rose

It was fine under weight of buses, it was the weight of trams obviously.

William Kay

The buses have been almost empty during Covid. My sentiment is that roads in general, let alone tram tracks, do not seem to be built with durability in mind in the UK. Remember, the tram is driving along its metal tracks, not the concrete.

Ronnie Shaw

I think we need to get the Romans back to build some decent roads.

John Davis

So a sub-15 ton bus with rubber tyres causes more damage than a 50+ ton tram with metal wheels vibrating along the track? Another excuse for the sub-standard materials the council love to use on our roads so much.

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Sheila Duff

I am sick of hearing what cyclists want, what about what everyone else wants? This council need to listen to Joe Bloggs or they will all be out on their ears.

Wendy Bell

Imagine recommending they follow Spokes rather than the Police! The council transport department has lost the plot again.

Michael Courts

Edinburgh council is full of degrees but no common sense. I rarely come into Edinburgh now. They're driving people away, people that will spend and contribute to Edinburgh’s economy. Its OK though – all those cyclist's will keep the economy alive!