Edinburgh Today

Edinburgh Airport
 Rail Link

(EARL)

Please click below to read how plans for Edinburgh's new tram system have progressed since March 2003.

The estimated starting date for trams in now 2010.

2003

Feb 03

The Station

Mar 03

The Route

2004

Nov 04

Consultation

Nov 04

Alternatives

Nov 04

Tram and Rail Links

2006

Mar 06

Delay until 1911

Dec 06

Objections Withdrawn

2007

May 07

SNP would cancel the project

Jun 07

Audit Report finds Problems

Jul 07

Rail Link Project likely to be Abandoned

Jul 07

EARL Rejected - New Scheme Proposed

 

Update

February 2003

The Station

Further details of the proposed rail link were announced on 3 February 04.  The new low-level station is to be near the south-east  corner of the terminal building, with two 1,500 metre tunnels running under the runway and the River Almond.

There are to be ten trains per hour in each direction,  4  Glasgow, 4  Fife and 2 Stirling.  These include through Edinburgh-Inverness and Aberdeen-Newcastle services.

It is planned to submit a Private Bill to the Scottish Parliament in 2005 and to start the building work in 2006.

Edinburgh Evening News  3 February 2003, p.9.

 

Update

March 2003

The Route

It is proposed to divert the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway to pass through a new mile-long tunnel under Edinburgh Airport, with a station at the airport.  There will also be direct trains from the station to Fife, Stirling, Aberdeen and Newcastle.

Transport Minister, Ian Gray, gave the go-ahead to this £505m project on 12 March 03.  It was the more expensive of two alternatives under consideration.   This announcement was welcomed by the City of Edinburgh Council,  Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Edinburgh Evening News.

It is hoped that the station will open in 2010.

Edinburgh Evening News  12 March 2003, pp.9,10.

 

Update

November 2004

Consultation

TIE (Transport Initiative Edinburgh - a council owned company) is to distribute up to 250,000 leaflets around Scotland seeking views on their proposals for the rail link to Edinburgh airport.

They propose diverting the Edinburgh-Glasgow and Edinburgh-Fife lines through a new tunnel under the airport. 

TIE estimated that 1.85 million passengers a year would use the rail link when it opened in 2010, the number increasing to 3.31 million in 2020.

A Public Meeting is to be held in the Hilton Hotel at the Airport on 11 December.  See the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link web site for further details.

Herald & Post -  11 November 2004  -  page 9

 

Update

November 2004

Alternatives

TIE have been looking at cheaper alternatives to building a tunnel and station under the runways.  They estimate that substantial savings could be made by building the station on the existing Edinburgh-Fife railway line at Turnhouse and providing a 3/4 mile underground between the station and the airport terminal.

TIE estimate that this option would cost £321m, rather than £500m for the tunnels and station under the airport.  There would be a further saving of £100m because it would no longer be necessary to acquire new rolling stock to meet the tunnel's health and safety standards and able to cope with the steep gradients out of the tunnel.

However siting the station at Turnhouse, rather than under the airport, would increase the journey times between the city centre and the airport from 16 minutes to 36 minutes; and TIE estimate that for every 100 passengers who would use the rail link to a station under the airport, only 42 would use it if the station were at Turnhouse.

Other alternatives mentioned in TIE's report are a bus service or a driverless shuttle for the 3/4 mile journey between a station at Turnhouse and the airport terminal.

Herald & Post -  11 November 2004  -  page 9

 

Update

November 2004

Tram and Rail Links

The rail link would provide direct access to the airport from throughout Scotland.  It is also proposed to provide a link to the airport by tram, for more local traffic, from 2010.

 

Update

March 2006

Delay until 2011

After studying a detailed audit of all the Scottish Executive's major transport commitments, Tavish Scott, Transport Minister in the Scottish Parliament announced, in March 2006 that the Waverley link to the Scottish Borders is now expected to open again in 2011, three years later than planned.

Edinburgh Evening News  March 16, 2006,  p.11

 

Update

December 2006

Objections Withdrawn

Evidence to Parliament is now complete.

TIE have announced that the number of objectors to the line has now fallen from 48 to 18.

Organisations including Scottish Power, O2, British Transport Police Authority, Royal Mail, Edinburgh & Lothians Badger Group, and many landowners have now withdrawn their objections after reaching agreement with TIE.

Edinburgh Evening News  December 7, 2006,  p.5

 

Update

May 2007

SNP would Cancel the Project

Alex Salmond, leader of the SNP, the largest party in the Scottish Parliament following the elections in May 2007, has been appointed First Minister.

He has called for  reviews of both the proposed Edinburgh Tram scheme and the proposed Edinburgh Airport Rail Link.  He has declared his party's opposition to both projects, commenting that the cash could be better spent elsewhere.

Most of the press comment on Alex Salmond's views has centred around his opposition to the trams.  The tram proposals are more advanced than the rail link proposals.  Cash was allocated by the Scottish Parliament in 2006 towards Edinburgh's trams, and £79m has already been spent on the project.

Edinburgh Evening News and The Scotsman:  several articles, May 2007

 

Update:  June 2007

Audit Report finds Problems

The Edinburgh Evening News on June 20, 2007, announced that the report by Audit Scotland to the Scottish Parliament, had been published today and had concluded:

-  Edinburgh's trams are likely to arrive on time, early 2011, and on budget.

-  Edinburgh Airport Rail Link is unlikely to meet its target date of 2011.

The report added that a  number of key decisions still needed to be made (relating to governance and procurement strategy) and that the Project Board had not met between April 2006 and February 2007, had only met twice since then and had set no date for their next meeting.

Edinburgh Evening News, June 20, 2007:  pp.1,5

 

Update:  July 2007

Rail Link Project likely to be Abandoned

Following criticism of the Edinburgh Air Rail  Link (EARL) project by the Scottish National Party, sources close to the project now say that they do not expect it to go ahead in its present form.

They expect that the 13 engineers and other specialists working on the scheme to be 'allowed to leave the project' next week, so that TIE can devote more attention to ensuring that Edinburgh's trams are delivered on time and on  budget.

then and had set no date for their next meeting.

Edinburgh Evening News, July 7, 2007: p.7

 

Update:  September 2007

EARL Rejected - New Scheme Proposed

Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, announced on September 27 that the £650m Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project, involving building a tunnel for the railway line under the runway at Edinburgh Airport, is not to go ahead, despite approx £30m having been spent on the project.

In its place, he proposes the building of a new station on the Edinburgh-Fife line, near the Gogar Roundabout, and diverting Edinburgh-Glasgow trains to pass through this new station.  It is estimated that the total cost would be about £200m.

The proposed trams for Edinburgh would provide the link between the station at Gogar and Edinburgh Airport.

Edinburgh Evening News, September 25, 2007: p.2

Edinburgh Evening News, September 27, 2007: pp.1,5 and

Edinburgh Evening News, September 29, 2007: p.2

 

 

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