Edinburgh Trams

[fruitmachine]

It has just been announced that the Edinburgh tram line extension will open to the public from 7 June.

This has several implications for cruise passengers:

 

• Those visiting or joining/leaving a ship at Leith, will be able to get the tram between the city centre and Ocean Terminal (just around the corner from the Leith Cruise Terminal) or to and from the Airport.
• As well as city buses, those tendering to Newhaven will have an additional public transport option to the city centre via Leith.  The tram terminus is about 1/4 of a mile east of Newhaven Harbour.
• For those tendering to South Queensferry, the X99 Cruiselink bus (https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/) return ticket includes a network DAYticket that is valid on the tram.  This provides an easy link from St Andrew Square, very close to the X99 drop-off, to Ocean Terminal for the Royal Yacht Britannia.
• For those docking in Rosyth, the tram also provides an easy public-transport link from the stop in St Andrew Square, just north of Edinburgh Waverly rail station, to Ocean Terminal for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

 

Tram tickets must be purchased before boarding, either at a ticket machine at a tram stop, or on a bus when you are combining journeys and purchasing a DAYticket.

 

Trams: https://edinburghtrams.com/
Buses: https://www.lothianbuses.com/ 

[John Bull]

That's good news for cruisers.🙂

We used the tram at the other end of the route,  between our hotel near the airport and the city centre. Excellent - frequent, simple, significantly quicker than by road, un-crowded and comfortable.

 

JB 🙂

[fruitmachine]

2 minutes ago, John Bull said:

That's good news for cruisers.🙂

We used the tram at the other end of the route,  between our hotel near the airport and the city centre. Excellent - frequent, simple, significantly quicker than by road, un-crowded and comfortable.

 

JB 🙂

From the airport itself, it's actually more expensive and a little slower than the airport bus, but has its advantages if traffic is particularly heavy. 

[John Bull]

19 minutes ago, fruitmachine said:

From the airport itself, it's actually more expensive and a little slower than the airport bus, but has its advantages if traffic is particularly heavy. 

 

 

Edinburgh Park, opposite a tram stop.

Ibis Budget - we holiday in style 🤣

 

JB 🙂

[SteelCity Cruiser]

On 5/25/2023 at 10:16 AM, fruitmachine said:

It has just been announced that the Edinburgh tram line extension will open to the public from 7 June.

This has several implications for cruise passengers:

 

• Those visiting or joining/leaving a ship at Leith, will be able to get the tram between the city centre and Ocean Terminal (just around the corner from the Leith Cruise Terminal) or to and from the Airport.
• As well as city buses, those tendering to Newhaven will have an additional public transport option to the city centre via Leith.  The tram terminus is about 1/4 of a mile east of Newhaven Harbour.
• For those tendering to South Queensferry, the X99 Cruiselink bus (https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/) return ticket includes a network DAYticket that is valid on the tram.  This provides an easy link from St Andrew Square, very close to the X99 drop-off, to Ocean Terminal for the Royal Yacht Britannia.
• For those docking in Rosyth, the tram also provides an easy public-transport link from the stop in St Andrew Square, just north of Edinburgh Waverly rail station, to Ocean Terminal for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

 

Tram tickets must be purchased before boarding, either at a ticket machine at a tram stop, or on a bus when you are combining journeys and purchasing a DAYticket.

 

Trams: https://edinburghtrams.com/
Buses: https://www.lothianbuses.com/ 

Is there a "tap and go" option on the tram or must you purchase a ticket at the tram stop?

 

[fruitmachine]

9 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

Is there a "tap and go" option on the tram or must you purchase a ticket at the tram stop?

 

You must buy it at the machine at the tram stop.  Cards are accepted.  A £5.00 DAYticket will also give access to all the city buses.

 

The buses have an onboard tap and go capability (one card per person), with a £4.80 daily cap, or you can buy paper tickets (£2.00 per journey, £5.00 for a DAYticket) on the bus with a single card.

[SteelCity Cruiser]

2 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

You must buy it at the machine at the tram stop.  Cards are accepted.  A £5.00 DAYticket will also give access to all the city buses.

 

The buses have an onboard tap and go capability (one card per person), with a £4.80 daily cap, or you can buy paper tickets (£2.00 per journey, £5.00 for a DAYticket) on the bus with a single card.

Thank you!  Looking forward to our visit to your amazing city

[Meander Ingwa]

A tram line extension , running from Newhaven / Leith Ocean Port into central Edinburgh and beyond to the airport has opened today.

[fruitmachine]

I'm planning on taking it tomorrow and comparing actual travel times (as opposed to the timetabled times) with the city bus alternative from both Leith and Newhaven.

Update coming!

[Meander Ingwa]

My friend noted that the trams do not appear to have traffic light priority like they do in Manchester.  She did not mention if that engineering feature might be / could be put in place.

[fruitmachine]

14 minutes ago, Meander Ingwa said:

My friend noted that the trams do not appear to have traffic light priority like they do in Manchester.  She did not mention if that engineering feature might be / could be put in place.

They have some priority, but after checking with a senior tram executive yesterday, he said that the timetable from today was the long-term timetable and that they wouldn't get any quicker.

There is a time-lapse video available of the full route (though I'm not certain that it will be viewable from outside the UK).  The bit of most interest to cruise passengers is from 1:01 (the Princes Street stop) to the end (Newhaven).  The penultimate stop is Ocean Terminal, and the Leith Cruise Terminal (at 2:00) is on the right just after turning right from there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-65825816

Edited June 7, 2023 by fruitmachine

[fruitmachine]

On 6/7/2023 at 5:56 PM, fruitmachine said:

I'm planning on taking it tomorrow and comparing actual travel times (as opposed to the timetabled times) with the city bus alternative from both Leith and Newhaven.

Update coming!

Payment
You must buy a ticket before boarding.  Cards, including contactless cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and coins are accepted.  There is a pink 'Tap and go' contactless point, but this will not be operating until after summer 2023.

 

Newhaven Harbour
The Newhaven tram terminus is a 4½ minute walk from Newhaven Harbour, and from there is timetabled to take 22 minutes to Princes Street.  The actual running-time on two different trips today was 27½ minutes.  It should run at a 7 minute frequency for the bulk of the day, giving an end-to end time in the region of 27-39 minutes.

The number 11 bus runs from right next to Newhaven Harbour, and is timetable to take 24 minutes to Princes Street.  This morning it was one minute faster than the timetable.  It runs on a 12 minute frequency for most of the day, giving an end-to-end time in the region of 24-36 minutes.

 

I'd take the bus: The price is the same (£2.00, or £5.00 for a DAYticket that lets you use any bus or tram in the main city zone all day); you can sit upstairs for a better view; and it has less walking.  But I understand the comfort-value of the certainty on routes and stops that the tram gives.  It's not a bad choice.

 

Leith Cruise Terminal
The Ocean Terminal tram stop is just 3 minutes from the Leith Cruise Terminal and the route from there to Princes Street is 2½ minutes shorter.  This makes the end-to-end time in the region of 23-32 minutes.

I didn't compare it with a bus, but a local paper tried yesterday, and times were very similar.  I'd take the tram.

 

If you're joining or leaving your ship at Leith Cruise Terminal, the journey to the airport is timetabled  at 52 minutes.  The single adult fare to or from the airport is £7.50, or £7.00 if bought at https://tickets.edinburghtrams.com/  There is lots of luggage space and flat access at all stops.

 

Finally, I also timed the uphill walk from the tram stop Princes Street to the Castle ticket barrier.  It was just under 10 minutes.  The walk from the bus stop will be near identical.

Enjoy Edinburgh!

Edited June 8, 2023 by fruitmachine

[Sugar Magnolia]

On 6/8/2023 at 2:03 PM, fruitmachine said:

Payment
You must buy a ticket before boarding.  Cards, including contactless cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and coins are accepted.  There is a pink 'Tap and go' contactless point, but this will not be operating until after summer 2023.

 

Newhaven Harbour
The Newhaven tram terminus is a 4½ minute walk from Newhaven Harbour, and from there is timetabled to take 22 minutes to Princes Street.  The actual running-time on two different trips today was 27½ minutes.  It should run at a 7 minute frequency for the bulk of the day, giving an end-to end time in the region of 27-39 minutes.

The number 11 bus runs from right next to Newhaven Harbour, and is timetable to take 24 minutes to Princes Street.  This morning it was one minute faster than the timetable.  It runs on a 12 minute frequency for most of the day, giving an end-to-end time in the region of 24-36 minutes.

 

I'd take the bus: The price is the same (£2.00, or £5.00 for a DAYticket that lets you use any bus or tram in the main city zone all day); you can sit upstairs for a better view; and it has less walking.  But I understand the comfort-value of the certainty on routes and stops that the tram gives.  It's not a bad choice.

 

 

 

Thank you very much @fruitmachine for this helpful introduction to the tram.

 

Can we use the £5.00 day ticket for both the bus and the tram to/from Newhaven? I was thinking of taking the tram one way and the bus the other way.

 

[fruitmachine]

5 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Thank you very much @fruitmachine for this helpful introduction to the tram.

 

Can we use the £5.00 day ticket for both the bus and the tram to/from Newhaven? I was thinking of taking the tram one way and the bus the other way.

 

Yes. 

 

It's the same DAYticket whether bought at the ticket machine at the tram or on the bus.

[rnrcruzin]

Thank you fruitmachine for this information. It is exactly what we were looking for. My wife and I truly enjoy your city and are looking forward to our trip there in June.