The day has finally arrived when the Trams to Newhaven project is finished, taking excited passengers all the way to the shores of Newhaven. You can now land at the airport, hop on a tram, and be drinking a pint overlooking the sea at Newhaven in just over an hour. The full tram line is open to paying passengers from noon on June 7 and, as usual, the trams to Newhaven are expected to run every seven minutes.
After a lengthy building process since 2019, the night time testing process began on March 13, with the full-on daytime testing continuing from April 19. Leithers have been witnessing the trams go up and down Leith Walk for the very first time in 67 years for a few months now, and finally, we will get to ride them.
As we imagined, people took to Twitter both their joy and dissatisfaction, with some having raced the tram with the bus to see which one is quicker. One person who raced the tram said: “The bus took 23 minutes and 17 seconds from Picardy Place to Newhaven bus stop which is situated beside the tram stop. The tram took just under 20 minutes at 19:57, so the tram is officially faster and the winner of our race.”
Now that the new Trams to Newhaven line is open, local businesses on Leith Walk are expected to get more business as well, as we all remember how quiet Leith was back when the road was closed due to the tram works.
What is more, the overall cost of the new tram line had risen from the initial estimate of £165 million to a final amount of £207 million, with the project being completed on time in Spring 2023. However, the very first tram project to the airport was completed five years late and cost a whopping £776 million in the end, which was more than twice its original budget, with the route being shorter than planned.