Posts filed under 'trams'
Blue sky thinking: what Edinburgh needs.
On a grey Edinburgh summer’s day I jump off a bus painted with blue skies and fluffy white clouds and on to the tram in Princes Street. It isn’t going anywhere of course but it’s still a great ride if only to dispel myths and misconceptions rumbling around town.
The tram project is not wildly over budget, the council is not planning to axe other projects to pay for it and the line will run all the way from Newhaven to Edinburgh airport.
That’s the gist of TIE’s Myths Buster bulletin. Busting myths is important in a cynical environment but I long to hear someone speak with blood stirring passion about the benefits trams will bring. Even when you are just standing on the motionless tram Edinburgh suddenly feels like a different place: smart, efficient, connected.
So Richard Jeffrey (the chief executive of TIE is surely a man with thick skin) urges politicians to have courage. Reading yesterday’s media coverage of Jeffrey’s energetic outburst I was also interested to see a quote from an old newspaper colleague of mine.
Howard Johnston, editor-in-chief of Tramways and Urban Transit, says Edinburgh needs to get its act together as pretty soon there will be so many cars in the city it will seize up. I paraphrase just a little.
Even Kazakhstan has trams: flashback to the brilliant Friends of the Earth Scotland 2007 campaign.
LRTA – “a new magazine for a new era of city transport” – is refreshingly evangelistic about trams but it also speaks authoritative good sense. One editorial argues that public opposition to tram construction might be reduced if the cost of moving utilities was not included in the price. Edinburgh’s ancient utilities – water, sewage and gas pipes – would have been replaced sooner rather than later even without the trams.
That puts a different slant on those shock horror newspaper stories claiming that it has cost £350m to construct only 18% of Edinburgh’s tram project. The £350m spent so far includes utility work as well as purchasing the trams and acquiring land etc plus that 18% of track laid – which, according to TIE, was always the deal agreed with the council. There’s lots more like this on the Myths Buster but don’t expect to find it prominently quoted in the local press.
Sadly the only passionate voices we hear are those rubbishing the scheme without much regard for the facts. But that is because those are the voices that are reported.
As it happens Howard Johnston and I did our newspaper training together a long time ago in a friendly newsroom producing the old EMAP Spalding Guardian and Lincs Free Press. We did a bit of council bashing when necessary from time to time but it was not our mission to undermine every project proposed by local councillors.
Back on the tram, I’m told more than 50,000 people have hopped aboard since it arrived on Princes Street and – according to the man on the tram and the LRTA’s Edinburgh page – most people seem to like it. But you won’t read that in the local press either.
(The blue sky bus is a feel-good story in itself but more of that later…)
July 21st, 2010
The success of our business depends on listening to people and responding to what they tell us. [Tesco Corporate Social Responsibility]
Here’s a shocking revelation in our local community newsletter. Shocking but probably not surprising. Tesco will not be paying a penny towards the construction of Edinburgh’s tram route although it is perfectly – and surely deliberately – placed to gain custom from three tram stops on Leith Walk. But that’s not the shocking bit.
According to the latest issue of the Spurtle, Tesco – unlike other developments on the tram route – is exempt from making contributions to construction costs. Planning regulations require only new developments to make a payment and technically the new Tesco Express coming soon to Picardy Place at the top of Leith Walk is not a new development, merely an internal refurbishment of an existing store.
No, that’s not the shocking bit. Nor is the fact that a planning department source told Spurtle there was absolutely no way round the technicality. The truly gobsmacking bit is what the planning official said next:
It would be unreasonable even to request some payment
on a voluntary basis.
Why? What is remotely unreasonable about asking for a donation towards the cost of a transport system which (assuming the line actually runs that far) will deliver customers right to the store doorway. Now Tesco has bought the old Scotmid in Duke Street that means Scotland’s largest private sector employer has three stores carefully positioned by tram stops along Leith Walk (one at the foot, one at the top and one half way up opposite McDonald Road). (See Spurtle and city planning rules for more)
In the week that the earth moved in Westminster it is always sobering to remember who really holds the power. Tescotowns could well be the future for many parts of the UK as the Guardian reported recently – whole communities of shops, homes, schools and public places owned by a company with the vision, confidence, clout and cash that local authorities are sadly lacking.
And there are no planning regulations to stop them – and no political will to change the planning regulations to protect the interests of small, independent retailers.
But maybe there is another way. (Of course I think we should limit the number of Tesco stores in town but neighbourhoods should at least get some cashback benefit for every new store in their area.) Let’s take Tesco’s word that they care about communities and the environment. Their very nicely produced Corporate Social Responsibility report lists at length the investments they make in good causes as well as what they are doing to reduce their carbon footprint. Green transport is one of their priorities and they are changing to rail wherever they can – especially in Scotland.
So maybe they would be only too happy to invest in a tram system which could eventually connect communities across the city centre (as well as bringing customers to their store) – and reduce Edinburgh’s carbon footprint and congestion at the same time. Tesco says their success depends on listening. But first we have to ask. If only the council wasn’t so shy.
May 13th, 2010
Trams connect east and west Berlin
What’s not to like about trams? Why does Edinburgh insist on digging itself into a dismal hole instead of exciting people with a picture of what a modern transport system means for the city? Come on, it’s a horrible wet day, let’s go for a YouTube ride on a tram…maybe starting in Barcelona for a taste of optimism and forward thinking.
But first I must explain why I need a trip out of town. Last night I heard a truly depressing account of the infighting which is delaying progress of Edinburgh’s one tramline. It was a private meeting so I won’t name names (oh, it’s so tempting!) but I will repeat the quote attributed to the new chief of TIE, the company with the daunting task of getting a tram onto the streets of Scotland’s capital city by 2011.
Every time the Evening News prints a negative story about the trams
it adds another £10 million to the price.
That’s Richard Jeffrey, formerly the boss at Edinburgh airport, who needs to convince a formidable coalition – a negative mass of malevolent media, misguided politicians and misinformed public – that trams are an essential part of a 21st century public transport system in a city which aspires to being a European capital.
There were happier times when as one Libdem councillor put it ‘consensus broke out’ at least for a few minutes in the City Chamber three years ago. I remember feeling quite moved when on 22 December 2006 I watched the chamber rise (with one exception) to cast their vote in favour of investing in the tram. (and went home to blog about it.)
Of course there are some places where you can go by boat…
But no more looking back. Now we can actually see the tramlines on Princes Street it is really time to look forward. And though TIE is trying harder to add a touch of genuine enthusiasm to their website I think they need much more razzamatazz. Since they will get no help from our local press, here’s how other cities do it.
A few moments on YouTube is a bit of a treat especially on a rainy day. It shows how trams can bring style, speed and spirit to city streets. Places like Helsinki and Amsterdam sell the city to tourists with tram videos. Ok, I know I am biased but try this ride on a Paris tram, sliding through suburbs, along the Seine, up tree-lined boulevards, seats emptying, seats filling up…oh to be in Paris.
But you don’t even need to go to mainland Europe. Here’s an upbeat view of Manchester (with a kind of Avengers soundtrack), or Dublin, or Croydon where joblessness fell and house prices rose in areas connected by tram. In each city to ensure good connections trams are integrated with buses – just as they will be in Edinburgh. Enjoy the ride.
No, no trams…just a reminder that Edinburgh can be fun and creative (see FEAST) we just need to make sure the city fathers remember that too.
November 6th, 2009
