Princes Street fire: Doubts over plans for temporary Newhaven-city centre tram service
‘I think it is imperative we get a tram service running between Newhaven and Picardy Place at the earliest opportunity’ - Cllr Stephen Jenkinson
Trams must return to Leith as soon as possible, city transport convener Stephen Jenkinson has insisted, amid signs that Edinburgh Trams is not willing to run a temporary partial service while waiting for Princes Street to reopen.
Tram services between the city centre and Newhaven have been suspended since the fire at the former Debenhams store in Princes Street on July 9.
The council has said it hopes that once the facade of the fire-hit building has been secured and vibration tests carried out it will be possible to run trams slowly past the site in order to get them to Newhaven and launch a temporary service between there and the city centre.
The council expects it will take around three weeks to secure the facade and it would then be around another week before Princes Street was fully reopened, meaning its closure since the fire on July 9 will last until nearly the end of August, when the Festival and Fringe come to an end.
However, an update issued by Edinburgh Trams chief operating officer Willie Hamilton on Thursday made no mention of trams being taken along Princes Street at low speed or introducing a temporary service between Newhaven and the city centre.
But the update emphasised the lack of facilities at Newhaven for cleaning, maintenance and secure overnight storage.
It sparked questions over whether Edinburgh Trams was reluctant to operate a partial service on the Leith side of the city.
And sources told the Evening News that Edinburgh Trams felt it would not be viable to run a service between Newhaven and the city centre without regular access to Princes Street because it had to be able to take trams back to the Gogar depot for both routine and unexpected maintenance.
They also said if there was a breakdown there would be no way of clearing it without access from the Gogar depot.
But Cllr Jenkinson said: "I think it is imperative we get a tram service running between Newhaven and Picardy Place at the earliest opportunity. I will continue to push for a service for the northern side of the city as soon as possible."
The need to suspend tram services on the northern section of the route has prompted questions about the reliance on a single depot at the other end of the line. The issue is expected to be one of the topics to be considered once the current situation is resolved.
Meanwhile, SNP council group leader Lesley Macinnes criticised a “lack of leadership” over the disruption caused by the fire and called for an emergency summit next week.
She said: “The negative impact on the city, its economy, the people and businesses of Leith and our summer visitors is clear. While there is a lot of delicate work happening on the site to safely secure the building and background work being done by council officers there has been a lack of visible and helpful leadership from the current Labour-led administration.
“We need to get everyone involved around a table early next week to make sure that we all have the true picture and can work together towards effective and fast joint solutions.
“No-one asked for this to happen but how we deal with it is critical. So, I am calling on the council leader to get an emergency summit underway really fast, to put all the issues on the table and then be prepared to tell the city what residents and businesses can expect in the short and long term.”