Leith to lose evening and morning tram services due to essential works starting tonight

Trams running from the airport will end their journey at Haymarket for two weeks.

Passengers will be unable to travel to and from Leith in the late evening and early morning for a fortnight due to engineering works which start today.

Trams from Edinburgh Airport will terminate at Haymarket between 7pm and 7am during ‘essential’ works being carried out on the tracks. The works start on October 27 and are scheduled to run through until the November 12.

Trams to Newhaven said the essential works are required to replace tracks and points at York Place and Shandwick Place, while maintenance checks will also be carried out to the overhead line equipment on the recently extended network to Newhaven. It has been timed to conclude ahead of what is expected to be a busy Christmas period, tram chiefs said.

Photo: Jolene Campbell

For the duration of the works there will be no services to all stops between West End and Newhaven. There are currently no plans to run replacement buses, however Edinburgh Trams have said that tickets will be accepted on some Lothian bus services.

Lothian buses 3, 4, 33 and 44 and the 16 will accept tram tickets. Trams will continue to run between Edinburgh Airport and Haymarket every 10 minutes after 7pm and before 7am during the work. However, there will be minor changes to usual times including the last departures.

Andy Conway, Edinburgh Trams’ head of engineering, said: “As part of our scheduled maintenance programme we will be changing tracks and points on two key sections of the line for the first time since the start of operations in 2014. This will ensure the safety and reliability of future tram services.

“We will also use this works period to conduct a full maintenance check on some parts of the vital operating equipment on the new section of our network to Newhaven. Works have been timed to conclude ahead of what is expected to be a busy Christmas period and our Customer Experience team will be available on X (Twitter), at help points and via the live chat, to offer travel advice.”

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