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Edinburgh Trams

Edinburgh's tramway: one line of 23 stops and 11.5 miles, from Edinburgh Airport through the city centre and down Leith Walk to Newhaven, run by 27 trams built by CAF. The first part, from the airport to York Place, opened in 2014, years later than planned and short of Leith, which it was meant to reach; the extension to Newhaven opened in 2023. They were the city's first trams since 1956.

2014Opened
11.5 miles (18.5 km)Airport to Newhaven
23Stops
12.4 millionJourneys a year, DfT (2025–26)

Facts

Opened
31 May 2014
Termini
Edinburgh Airport – Newhaven
Type
tramway
Depots
Gogar
Operating company
Edinburgh Trams Ltd, owned by the City of Edinburgh Council through Edinburgh Transport Holdings (Transport for Edinburgh until December 2025); run together with Lothian Buses, the council's bus company, under an integration agreement, the two kept as separate companies

unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓

CAF Urbos (Edinburgh Trams) · CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles), Spain · indicative: some dimensions are estimated, from photographs and published figures. · shown in Edinburgh Trams
7 sections, about 141 ft (43 m)

Route 23 stops

Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven: schematic, not to scale Edinburgh AirportEdinburgh Airport Ingliston Park & RideIngliston Park & Ride GogarburnGogarburn Edinburgh Gateway — change for National RailEdinburgh Gateway Gyle CentreGyle Centre Edinburgh Park CentralEdinburgh Park Central Edinburgh Park Station — change for National RailEdinburgh Park Station BankheadBankhead SaughtonSaughton BalgreenBalgreen Murrayfield StadiumMurrayfield Stadium Haymarket — change for National RailHaymarket West EndWest End Princes StreetPrinces Street St Andrew SquareSt Andrew Square Picardy PlacePicardy Place McDonald RoadMcDonald Road Balfour StreetBalfour Street Foot of the WalkFoot of the Walk The ShoreThe Shore Port of LeithPort of Leith Ocean TerminalOcean Terminal NewhavenNewhaven

Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stops are interchanges. Edinburgh Gateway, Edinburgh Park Station and Haymarket are interchanges with National Rail trains; Edinburgh Waverley station is a short walk from St Andrew Square. Every stop is in the City fare zone except Edinburgh Airport, which is in the Airport zone. Stop order from Edinburgh Trams' list of stops and its route map (see Sources).

StopZoneInterchanges
Edinburgh AirportAirport
Ingliston Park & RideCity
GogarburnCity
Edinburgh GatewayCityNational Rail
Gyle CentreCity
Edinburgh Park CentralCity
Edinburgh Park StationCityNational Rail
BankheadCity
SaughtonCity
BalgreenCity
Murrayfield StadiumCity
HaymarketCityNational Rail
West EndCity
Princes StreetCity
St Andrew SquareCity
Picardy PlaceCity
McDonald RoadCity
Balfour StreetCity
Foot of the WalkCity
The ShoreCity
Port of LeithCity
Ocean TerminalCity
NewhavenCity

Stops from the operator’s published routes, entered by hand (see Sources).

Rolling stock

History 13

  1. Edinburgh's last trams of the old system run, in a procession to Shrubhill depot.
  2. Two Acts of the Scottish Parliament give the powers to build a tramway: Line Two, west from St Andrew Square to Edinburgh Airport and Newbridge (27 April), and Line One, a loop through Leith and Granton (8 May).
  3. The contract to build the line from Edinburgh Airport to Leith Waterfront is signed with the Bilfinger Berger Siemens consortium, which CAF joins to build the 27 trams. Trams are to run by the summer of 2011.
  4. A second line, from Roseburn to Granton, is postponed.
  5. CAF delivers the first tram, four months later than planned.
  6. In a night-time test, a tram runs through the city centre for the first time, from Haymarket along Princes Street to York Place.
  7. Passenger trams start running, between Edinburgh Airport and York Place; the first leaves Gyle Centre at 5 am.
  8. Edinburgh Gateway station opens, on the railway to Fife and the north, linked to the tram stop by lifts and escalators.
  9. Building starts on the extension to Newhaven.
  10. York Place stop closes for good, so that the line can be joined to the extension; a new stop at Picardy Place is to replace it.
  11. Trams start running to Newhaven: 2.9 miles and eight new stops, with Picardy Place in place of York Place, opened on time and within the £207.3 million budget.
  12. The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry, set up in 2014 to find out why the first line was late, cost more than budgeted and was shorter than planned, publishes its report, with 24 recommendations.
  13. The council decides that Edinburgh Trams and Lothian Buses are to work under an integration agreement, as separate companies led by one chief executive; it approves the new governance on 26 June 2025.

Sources 19

How we source figures →  ·  Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)

Show the 19 sources from Edinburgh Trams, Companies House, legislation.gov.uk and 7 more
unverified
  • The line colour: the dark red of the line on Edinburgh Trams' route map, sampled from the image; Edinburgh Trams publishes no colour value
  • Whether the shared board and one chief executive for Edinburgh Trams and Lothian Buses are now in place: Transport for Edinburgh's accounts (September 2025) expected them by the end of 2025

Know a source for one of these? Send it to us → (opens in a new tab)

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