Let's Ride ... The Edinburgh Trams Extension 

*person driving along Leith Walk* "Is that Geoff Marshall over there?" *looks* BANG!

Good to see the grass covered blocks in between the tracks. They can go some way to reduce the heat island effect of all that concrete.

I love that modern trams continue to use the sound of a ‘gong’. 👍😀

Good to see the Edinburgh Tramway extension open. We need more trams in the UK.

They didn't require new trams because the original order was for the full network before Edinburgh City Council / Scottish Government cocked up the build and it was rationalised to terminate at Picardy Place (then 100 foot up the road at York Place). So 9 years later the fleet is actually being utilised as originally planned.

Lewis is such a happy and funny guy, always smiling! Amazing

Lewis is great. His local knowledge is as accurate as it is comprehensive!

It’s important to remember that those big pulley wheels belonged to the Edinburgh Trams system, not the Leith Trams (as Lewis mistakenly said)‚ which had always been powered by electricity. When the Burgh of Leith was “amalgamated” into Edinburgh in 1920, the city’s tram system had to be upgraded to electrical before it was finally connected with the Leith system.

This looks like it was shot around lunchtime last Sunday, because I was remember being in a shop on McDonald Road when the storm broke out suddenly. I had planned to take a ride on the trams but decided to go for a drive because I wasn't brave enough for the rain, would have been fun to bump into you guys :D

Welcome to Edinburgh, Geoff - glad we put the weather on for you 😂😂 Loved the cheeky wee Fringe interlude too.

York Place, when the trams terminated there, was a platform with a single tram line running alongside it. Trams came through the crossover just before the stop in the direction in which the crossover did nothing and stopped just before the buffers marking the end of the line. The driver shut down this cab, got out, and walked along the platform to the cab at the other end of the tram. After a short delay the tram pulled out along the same bit of track it came into York Place on and went through the crossover to switch it onto the other track for the trip back to the airport. This arrangement meant that York Place would have required some major alterations to allow the twin tracks just before it to join to the twin tracks going down Leith Walk. Since Picardy Place, the stop at the top of Leith Walk, was less than 100 metres away, it was decided to remove the stop and run the second track through where the platform had been.

That temporary end station that got replaced by a new station a bit further on once the planned-from-the-start extension got built is something we have in Stockholm too. No sign of the temporary stop here either. Our extension was just one stop though! Lovely to see Edinburgh in such Scottish weather.

Such a joy seeing Edinburgh the city I was born in. Recognised Harburn Hobby’s as I collected alot of model buses 🚍 in the 1990s & early 2000s. Love Edinburgh so much folks. 👍👍

This is an informative and funny video, Geoff, hope you had a nice time in Edinburgh

I was there last weekend, great time on the trams. I didn't realise the extension was so new.

I've been in Harburn Hobbies model shop many times, and indeed, 47444 on my layout came from there in 2018! Very good shop Geoff, and their Harburn Halt signs are also an own brand range of scenic products for layouts! I also bought my Hornby Elite DCC controller from there. Another fact, heading a little bit up Leith Walk from Harburn Hobbies, you pass the Gateway apartments. That was previously the Scottish Television Gateway TV theatre. Bet you didn't know that!

I just spent a week in Glasgow as my niece was competing in the BMX Racing, and me and my nephew visited every station on the ‘Clockwork Orange’ he absolutely loved it 😊

Was not expecting to see a car crash in a Geoff video! Nonetheless I have to say I enjoyed this very much, it's always good to see new transit infrastructure, and I look forward to riding it for myself!

Lewis seems a nice guy

Hi Geoff, the story behind the Harburn Hobbies is it was made by the owner and a customer. It started when someone brought an old railway Harburn station sign with the the builders holding it by the McDonald Road Stop. Then the Harburn Hobbies decided to make the Harburn Halt stop

Nice trams! Geoff & his local friend nicely compliment each other. Love the wheel sculpture remembering the old tram system. I visited Edinburgh in the late 70s. A very quaint city.

When I stay in Edinburgh, I usually stay in the Premier Inn at York Place, which is essentially directly opposite the old tram stop. Last summer I had not realised they had already shut it (because the extension was still being built, I had no reason to think it wouldn't be). I walked to the platform where a tram was and the driver came out and explained that the stop was not in use anymore. I asked as I had a ticket could I just get on anyway as she was about to leave for the next station round the corner............. and she said no! So I set off walking and because of heavy road traffic, I got there just before her and then ended up getting on the tram anyway! I guess it was probably insurance or something she couldn't let me on but it was quite funny how I ended up just getting on her tram regardless. RIP York Place Tram stop!

Ah, I was wondering when one of you English RU-vidrs were going to come and sample our extended tram line, with so much more street running - I believe you could be the first, Geoff - well done! Back when construction started in 2011 (or whenever it was), there was a cartoon in the local paper featuring a tram with the destination, "Fit o' the Walk likesay," which is "Foot of the Walk in the local Leith accent. As you may have noticed, the pub whose wall the city-bound platform shares, is also named "Foot of the Walk", as was the cinema that it is a conversion of. That tram stop's platforms are the only ones to also be part of the pavements (of Constitution Street, at the end of which it sits), as there was insufficient clearance to keep them separate. Did you also notice the curved former entrance and offices of Leith Central railway station, on the opposite corner? of Duke Street/Leith Walk? And how about the entrance of the Caledonian Railway's passenger station, that was never opened to the public, on the corner of Manderston Street nearby? The red sandstone it and the row of shops fronting the former goods yard opposite, is the main giveaway... Closed as a through route to the south in 1965, the iron girder viaduct that carried it across Leith Walk was finally removed in 1989 - the broken edges of this can still be discerned. (At the other end of Manderston Street, a similar viaduct also carried that - the Leith New Lines of 1903 - across Easter Road until the same time). The disused line that Lewis describes as the former Powderhall branch has in fact, a much more significant place in Scotland's railway history - as has the site on its Leith side, which until recently was the largely derelict main workshops and depot of the former Edinburgh Corporation Tramways, that closed for good at the end of October, 1956. The five-platform Leith Walk station is said to be lost in the undergrowth of the area you show: this was an interchange between the passenger services of the North British Railway between Edinburgh Waverley and the North Leith, and Granton Harbour branches - the latter forming part of the main inter-city route between Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee via the Granton - Burntisland ferry, which was how the NB route crossed the Firth of Forth prior to the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890! It is also the second such route - the original ran through the steeply-inclined Scotland Street tunnel, some distance to the west, which was abandoned in favour of this route when it opened in 1867.

Sadly the Edinburgh trams have the same issue as public transport in many places including here in Australia.Trashy adverts stuck on windows.

Starting a petition for lewis to be the default companion in all videos

It is pleasing to see that progress has been made in getting the Edinburgh tram system up and running. It has been a long time coming! Thanks for uploading.

It's nice to see Lewis again. I think it's "Leithers" as the collective name for people from Leith, certainly Dick Gaughan calls himself a Leither, and he should know. Were you giving an old friend some moral support at the Fringe, Geoff?😉

Well done Geoff for the trip up to Edinburgh - do hope my wonderful brother was driving you - didn't see the driver in the clips. Loves his job and it's great to see the route finally open to Newhaven - hope you went round Britannia.

If you want a perfect disused tram stop. the former Birmingham Snow Hill Tram stop is still there with the escalator but the tracks are disconnected from the Tram network. Great video and hope yourself and Lewis weren't too shook up after witnessing that crash but good to hear that no one was hurt

Do love the new tram line in Edinburgh, been on the line a couple of times.

Glad they finally finished the extension down to Leith, was still a building site when I visited in 2021.

I, in a thousand years, never expected in a Geoff Marshall video for a car crash to occur while filming a railway. I definitely had to rewind to watch that part again because I wasn't expecting that whatsoever!

If you head down the other end towards the airport there's a nice stop at Gogarburn. In the adjacent churchyard is the grave of Thomas Grainger, railway engineer & surveyor, who was involved in the construction of many of Scotland's railways, including Haymarket Station, and some in England, including the Wharfdale viaduct

The trams look nice.

Wow! Edinburgh has everything! Even low speed car accidents!

as well as the Powderhall line, there's also the Edinburgh South Suburban, that is used for frieght but not passenger trains, though there is a campaign to change that...

The only time I've been to Edinburgh they were digging up the roads for the first tranche of trams. Nice to see a few in action after all this time.

The Scottish Concessionary Pass allows free travel to Lothian residents only on the trams. Others from elsewhere have to pay. I think that the Glasgow Underground is similar. .. Remember, Scotland, four seasons in one day. The snow would be later 😂

Lewis is adorable 🥰

Very nice, let the tram networks grow! They are now building a complete new tram system in Liège in Belgium. That is about 50 km (30 m) from my home here in the south east of the Netherlands. It should open in 2024. And I will ride it then. Maybe you would like to come and see it. Liège is closer to London than Edinburgh! I will accompany you, and help with the French translation, as Liège is in the French speaking part of Belgium.

Great as always...think I will have a wee dram at Robbies and have a good old stare at those pulley wheels. Nice addition Lewis

Harburn Hobbies , been in the same family for over 50 years , use it or lose it !

Thanks for catching the B roll footage outside Leith Post Office, I'm a postbox nerd and was going to visit the post office on Sunday but changed my mind when the heavens opened! Was just down from you at Balfour Street at the time!

The trams are brilliant. I hope they get on and build the north south line to the hospital soon!

I’m glad you finally made it to Edinburgh. I’m so glad the teams are finally finished. Shame I missed you on Sunday as I was out of town

Harburn Hobbies are fun and knowledgeable people, will show them this video next time I am there :)

Nice to see you touch down in ye old Edin! 🎉

Hi Geoff your videos are amazing ❤

How exciting! Loving the cool trams ❤

I love travelling on the trams whenever I'm in Edinburgh 😍 The wee 'ding' sound always amuses me

Great video, and nice to see the Roddy Frame looks a likely too 👍

What a great surprise. I just arrived in Edinburgh for Fringe Festival and used the tram today. Ps the new line should definitely be a combined tram/cycle path. It’s what Not Just Bikes would recommend.

I love the Edinburgh Trams. It’s a fun system.

Great videos as always Geoff

Geoff Marshall was in my city!!! Love your work.

This is so cool! I'm from the middle of Canada and have been following you since the pandemic. We have a family member temporarily living in the UK so just spent 18 days there. Along the way, I was checking off whenever I did something you did. It seems I did the same exact tram trip (I had to see Sunshine on Leith) the Sunday before you!

Really nice video. I’ve never been to Scotland., so it was very interesting.

You went under the ghost of an old railway bridge just past the foot of the walk - the arches and buttresses are still there. I thought you'd comment on it!

Welcome to Edinburgh 🎉 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I was born in Edinburgh and my family moved down to Surrey in around 1952, so I can just about remember the old double decker Edinburgh Corporation Trams. (My grandparents still lived there so we used to visit regularly after we moved.) They were painted in the same livery that is used on the buses today. The last tram ran in 1959. Shame you didn’t mention the old system - great video though!

I live 100m or so from Picardy Place. York Place stop was shut for a couple of years - a reet pain. Today I could get on the tram down Leith Walk to do a bit shopping. There's all sorts of interesting stuff there. You can get the bus. All 17 of them, confusion is thy name. Leith Walk will change now; the tram is comfortable, quiet, the platform is at the same height as the tram - wheelchairs - kids in buggies - that works, and you know where you are.

What a great video :) Slightly disappointed that you skipped my stop (The Shore) with Rabbie Burns statue 😢

Auto generated subtitles are hilarious: "I'm at the top end of the tram network, the new extension to edible trams". Tasty!

Harburn hobbies is a brilliant model shop in Edinburgh if it was open geoff you would of loved it

This was a lotta fun! Thank you! :D

Thanks!

Nice to see some development in Edinburgh!

A fun video. 👍👍

Brilliant video!

Nottingham has an abandoned tram stop. When the extension to the west opened in 2016, the old Nottingham Station stop closed, and a new one opened about 50m down the line. It is still very visible.

Excellent video

Great informative video Geoff. Thanks for sharing. Interesting how at 10:04 and 10:13 the view of the tram crossover was a bone dry ☀️ setting as oppsed to where you were standing at the old York Place, which was being rained on. 🌧 👍🏾

Nice nod to the proclaimers with the York place ( no more). Nice edit before the swear at the car crash

We're up in Edinburgh and just visiting the Colinton Tunnel. Have you ever been? It's a really remarkable community project and very beautiful!

I was able to travel along the new bit to Newhaven and back on 21st July have done to original route on opening day (31st May 2014). The service frequency is pretty good and even when trams were bunched no-one had to wait particularly long. The information at stops and on board was fine though you have to search their website to find the limits of the City Zone (covers all stops between Ingliston Park & Ride and Newhaven) referred to in ticketing options. The trams were clean and revenue protection was very effective. Overall though, with so many buses in the city and down to Leith and, eventually, eco means to power buses, it does make you wonder if the trams are a white elephant. I am not sure this vid will generate as much meaningful discussion as some of yours, Geoff, but thanks for sharing this record of your visit.

"Have you been accepted yet by the Leithonians?" Followed by the longest silence! 😂

I can’t resist - I have a crush on the cute Scot you met with, who also happens to love trains. The only thing missing was a kilt.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my lens...

Thank you Geoff for another interesting video. The most amazing trams that I have been on do not draw their power for an overhead wire, but through an induction system between the rails. Thus no need for all the unsightly overhead wires and cables. So do go to Rio de Janeiro and make a video on their tram system.

Best value for travelling around Edinburgh is the £5.00 1 day travel ticket, covers all the bus routes in the city area plus the tram route as far as Igliston Park & Ride, extra to go to the final stop at the airport.

When the video started in the sunshine I wanted to comment the quote, "I remember the Scottish summer, it was a beautiful day in August" but by the end of the video it quickly turned into classic Scottish weather where seasons change themselves during the day. :)

"The Leith Police Dismisseth Us", but can Geoff say it?

Glad they've finally opened now

I have been to Edinburgh many times, but never yet ridden a tram.

You should come and ride the tram system here in Tenerife. There are two point to point lines that share 1 station where they cross, but you can only get a tram from one end to the other on each line. None of the trams on line 1 leave and go along line 2.

I cant help but mention a couple of signs for pedestrians between St Andrew Square and Picardy Place that still point you in the direction of York Place.

I walked the Roseburn path in July 23 and that was an old Edinburgh railway route. This would make an excellent addition to the tram network as it passes very near Newhaven and could link up to Haymarket.

Awesome Video Geoff

I been on a Scotland and England trip in Late June of 2023. The new tram line just open a few weeks ago before the start of my trip. Like the Interior good scheduling. Like to come back.

Looking at it its quite nice. Drivers compartment seems really big and glassed not like here where its mostly raised and walled off except the door I think the grassy trams thing is quite tame compared to what everybody is doing now with just the stone paving with holes instead of full grass

Lewis is right- they should add the Powderhall branch, the South Suburban line and the Granton branch from Murrayfield onto the tram network. That would let it cover much more of the city.

I hope there are no crashes between cars and trams up there. When I was in Bordeaux a few years ago, a car derailed a tram in front of me, and I had to walk a long way back to the city centre. They make use of induction trackways there cutting the need for overheads. It makes sense using existing track-beds for new trams and would prevent a bit of disruption to city streets, too hopefully.

Always informative and. Also funny . Love the Scottish weather

That disused rail line fir Powderhall isn't long out of use, it used to carry household waste from a local waste recovery plant to landfill out of town. Sometime in the past 8 years since I moved out of the area.

That was on 3rd August. I remember the rain that day. Also, I am also qith TheSpaceUK and they opened on 4th. 😊

Good to know that the sun still shines on Leith. Which is another Proclaimers reference. :) Sunshin for a while, at least. But the great thing about Scotland is that if you don't like the weather, wait twenty minutes.

Great video, Two slight correction: It was the Edinburgh Trams that were cable pulled whilst Leith trams were electrified. The reason there’s lots of spare trams was less about foresight and more that they bought enough for an entire network then only built half of one line. Lots of the trams spent years rusting away in a yard in Broxburn before the depot was finished at Gogarburn. PS. Picardy Place is pronounced like Picardy in France, Lewis is pronouncing it like Cpt Picard in Star Trek?…bl**dy Aberdonians coming to our town and re-pronouncing everything ( or should that be Ah-hin?) 😂

At bottom leith walk at their back the building with the clock tour used to be the big Leith Central station.

What A Lovely Video

Edinburgh is awesome 👌