Trams

Edinburgh's trams were originally supposed to be trundling through city streets this year, 2010. After a series of delays, this week we learned that the main contractors Bilfinger Berger may need until 2014 to complete the tram works.

To the surprise of many, the Edinburgh Trams project people managed to open Edinburgh's main thoroughfare Princes Street last Sunday as promised. Buses, taxis and cycles have returned to Princes Street where the new tracks have been laid from west of Waverley Bridge to South Charlotte Street.

Official Edinburgh Trams video showing opening of Princes Street on 29 November, with comment from key players in this local saga including Richard Jeffrey, chief executive of Tie, and Cllr Jenny Dawe, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council.

Children and theatre - never the twain should meet, except at Christmas.

This is a concept that is laughed at, literally, in Tim Firth’s newest adaptation of his take on the nativity, first seen on television in 1999 and then adapted for the stage with music, where it enjoyed a highly successful Liverpool run. Firth has created an exclusive version for the EFT and relocated the play to Edinburgh with lots of local references – yes, there’s a mention of them damn trams.

The Street Party is perhaps the best-known event in Edinburgh's Hogmanay Festival calendar. The New Year street party takes place the length of Princes Street, with live bands, dancing in the street, and street theatre troupes mingling with crowds.

Buses, taxis and cycles are to return to Princes Street by the end of November say Edinburgh City Council.

The formal process for the permanent changes to the road layout along the Edinburgh tram route will begin next month with a 28 day consultation period for statutory consultees.

This period will be followed with a general consultation period for all interested parties in February 2010.

The company delivering the tram project for Edinburgh, tie, has begun legal proceedings with the Bilfinger Siemens CAF (BSC) consortium who have been contracted to build Edinburgh's trams network.

A series of measures designed to minimise the impact of the extensive tram works on Princes Street on this year's Edinburgh Festival has been announced by the Edinburgh Tram Project

An archaeological excavation is currently being undertaken on the site of the South Leith Parish Church graveyard on Constitution Street after discovery

It has been agreed with stakeholders and retailers that Edinburgh's tram project will continue track laying work on Princes Street during the Festival in August. The move will allow the street to reopen in time for the busy Christmas shopping period and the Hogmanay celebrations.

A Council report published today has confirmed that the Edinburgh Trams project is struggling under the current economic downturn. In particular, funding constraints mean that there has been a shortfall in funding for Line 1b

The life-sized Edinburgh tram mock-up that has clocked up 70,000 visitors in the six weeks that it has been on Princes Street will close its doors to the public this Thursday (2.30pm, 9 April) and will then be moved to Leith. From there the showcase tram will be continuing to other destinations in the city (times have not yet been announced).

An eleventh hour resolution has been brokered in the dispute that halted work on the Princes Street section of the Edinburgh Tram Project. Work on laying the track on Edinburgh City Centre's main street was due to start a month ago, but it was halted after a disagreement between the tram project manager, tie Limited, and its contractors erupted over additional costs of between £50m and £80m.

The Edinburgh tram works that was supposed to start today on Princes Street has been put off due to a disagreement between the tram project operators Tie and the German contractors Bilfinger Berger

A mock-up, public display tram is to be stationed on Princes Street as work gets underway, this weekend, on laying the tram tracks on Edinburgh's

Princes Street will be closed to traffic from this Saturday as the Edinburgh Tram Project starts laying the rails for the first section of the Edinburgh tramway.

Edinburgh's trams are to be running by early 2012, some 65 years after the last tram trundled through the capital's streets.