Edinburgh Trams - The First Week
It was in 2008 that work started on
the construction of the Edinburgh tramway.
We start our programme in 2009 where we see the mock up of two sections
of the proposed tramcar design at Western Harbour. It was displayed in what was then the current
Lothian Buses ‘Harlequin’ livery. The
fleet now consists of 27 CAF trams built to an Edinburgh design at their
factory in Spain. They are in a version
of the bus livery featuring madder red and silver on a mostly white base with a
new Edinburgh Trams logo. Our cameras
also filmed some of the construction in Princes Street during the same
year.
We now move forward some five years
to spring 2014 and witness some of the test workings, which started during 2013
between the depot at Gogar and Edinburgh Airport and by the 4th December 2013 were reaching the
city centre along Princes Street. Our
filming takes place over two days showing trams running along Princes Street,
through St Andrew Square to the York Place terminus. We also record the running from Princes
Street to Haymarket where the street running finishes as the trams head off
towards Murrayfield running parallel with the mainline
railway.
The
official opening of the
tramway took place on Saturday 31st
May, but our cameras arrived on the 2nd
June, the third day of operation. We
film the action at Ingliston Park & Ride stop, where the
trams arrive from the airport before heading off into the city and visa
versa. The following day our cameras
spend the entire day on the system. We
begin at Ingliston Park & Ride where we board
tram 267 for a cab ride of the whole route to the terminus at York
Place. From
our vantage place behind the driver we can see the route and its
infrastructure
and how the tram copes with the traffic on the street section from
Haymarket to
York Place. On arrival at York Place we
film the trams arriving and departing and then continue to film the
action at
St Andrew Square, Princes Street, Shandwick Place, West End – Princes
Street
and Haymarket. Having recorded the
driver’s view of the system we now take up the passenger’s view as we
board
tram 251 at St Andrew Square to Haymarket.
From Haymarket we travel by tram to every station to Ingliston Park
& Ride. At each stop we film the arrivals and
departures before continuing our journey by tram. In all a total
of ten trams are travelled on. There are helpful subtitles to
guide you on
your journey as we give this comprehensive view of Scotland’s brand new
tramway. Enjoy the ride.
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Filmed
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2014 |
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Duration
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120 minutes (approx). |
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Price
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Within UK - £16 |
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Rest of world -
£18 |
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Format
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DVD -R |
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Picture Aspect 16:9 |
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Order
Ref : |
D201 |