We used the tram from the airport to St Andrews Square which was the nearest stop and only a 5 min walk to our hotel. We loved how easy it was to get tickets at the airport. We used the ticket machine but a helpful employee also checked on us to make sure we're weren't having any problems. She then directed us to the next tram. It was very easy. I know that many in our tour group also used the tram when they arrived in Edinburgh and they had no problems either. The ride was uneventful, and quick until we arrived in the city. The tram was clean and quiet and we felt safe using it. As a visitor, I am aware that any discussion regarding the tram can get very political and heated but we really liked the convenience. We also had no problems buying tickets at the station when we traveled from St Andrews Square to the West End a few times. As it was festival season, the trams were quite crowded at times but the ride was always smooth and quick enough. We didn't use it when we returned to the airport as our departure was at 3am but if ever the tram ran all night, we would certainly use it. read more

I was so excited to try the trams as someone who left Edinburgh when they first starting building them. I am visiting Edinburgh this week as performing amd on a very tight budget. I decided to get the tram and apparently you cannot buy tickets onboard. As a tourist I had no way to know this and was fined £10 which was my entire travel budget for my stay. Will never get the tram again and cannot afford the bus. Disgusted with your treatment of visitors to my once loved City. read more

Awful. So many people without masks, putting others at risk. The conductor did not say a word to them. I challenged the conductr asking why he did not remind them of the rules, and just checked their tickets without saying nothing. He said he was not a police man. I asked him what he would do if I had no ticket. He said we would ask me to pay or leave the train. Rightly so. But he would not do the same for these several maskless passengers who put other passengers' lives at risk. I made a complaint, they replied that social distancing is not necessary now. I had not mention social distancing at all. Basically they just changed the subject, and send me a link to their own regulations, which say: ""Wear a face covering (unless exempt), cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing and maintain good hand hygiene". AWFUL. They could not care less about passenger safety. read more

Used the tram to and from the airport. The cost of the ticket, 5.50GBP. I liked the idea of a tram instead of the bus so I went ahead and purchased from the self serve machines. Afterwards I realized that I could have purchased a return ticket to the airport for around 8.50GBP, this wasn't very well advertised. The tram itself was very clean and seemed like it was brand new. The ticket inspector was a bit on the cold side, but it was a comfortable ride to the city center. Nicer than I expect a bus would be. My main gripe was the return ticket situation that I wasn't really aware of. Otherwise, it was OK. read more

I hail from the Netherlands, so to me: this tram line is a joke. A very expensive one and unles they are going to expand the route it won't be worth it for a long while. The major negative points to me are: 1. It adds no improvement to travel time. 2. Congestion on Princes Street is a question of 'when' instead of 'if'. 3. When up ahead the track something is wrong - there is no alternative than to wait in the tram. - as it is only ONE track no alternate routes can be considered. I am using it from Edinburgh Park to Westend - which is a fairly smooth uneventful ride. After that.. it is touch and go. Most of the time due to the other traffic using the tram lines as well this will end up in massive delays. - With other traffic I mean: cars, taxis,trucks, mopeds, bikes, pedestrians and emergency vehicles - ALL of them have right of use on this tram track.. sort it out Transport for Edinburgh.. read more

Its not often I ever put pen to paper but this Tram system simply takes the biscuit! Today, Wednesday 26th August I decided to take my first tram ride. I hasten to add it was through necessity. My friends assisted me as best they could in relaying me home so as not to interrupt a friend/my wife's working day. TRAMS... That was the idea.. We agreed one friend would drive me to Broughton Street where I walked/stumbled my way to the tram stop. Unfortunately my friend was unable to drop me right at the tram stop due to lack of parking and his need to return to work. Due to restricted eyesight/blindness I sought out the conductor who was speaking with the driver and I simply asked " If I could pay on the tram?! The conductor was a women and she informed me "NO, ticket only and they are purchased at the machine, No ticket, No travel". I asked ho much it would be to travel, to which she replied," £10..." I was flabbergasted at this and asked, £10 from where to where? She says "from here to the airport £10". I informed her I only wished to travel to Bankhead where somebody was picking me up, and I asked again how much from Broughton Street to Bankhead. She replied "I don't know but the ticket machine outside will tell you!" Informing her of my predicament i.e: blind due to recent eye surgery I can only see large objects like cars / buses and lamp-posts, people and unfortunately trams. The conductor was of real heartfelt assistance. At this point she informed me to go the platform and ask someone to assist me?!?!?! Looking out the tram doors at the empty tram stop which almost coincides with yet another empty tram. I exited the tram and walked the 10ft to the ticket machine. As I left I asked how long will the tram moves, I was informed "1 minute". When I looked at it, god only knows as I couldn't see a 2 foot tall letter, never mind the mind numbing miniature gibberish telling me how to purchase a ticket. As I looked through my eyes at the melting letters and numbers I just heard the conductor shout, " if in doubt just pay the tenner", I said I'm blind not stupid. Within seconds there was sweet music to my ears of the ...ssshhhh of the tram doors closing and the ding ding as the tram left me on the uninhabited concrete tram stop in the middle of the road! The trams probably have done me a favour as I have never travelled on one.... And I will NEVER EVER again travel on one, even if my life depended on it" I'd like to take this heartfelt opportunity to thank the members of the Tram Service for all their kind help and assistance in dealing with someone in clear need of assistance and in my case temporarily blind / disabled. I find it bizarre that they offer no assistance or concern in these matters and I find it ridiculous that you can't pay on the tram.... They clearly must be making so much money that they can afford to lose custom. The ticket machine has to be paid with the exact money and do not give me my hard worked money back in the form of change. Just for those people who are genuinely concerned I got home safely and the picture posted is of my good eye! read more

Dear lord, what a ridiculous saga. As many others have pointed out, Edinburgh already has a brilliant bus service. The city is fairly small and due to parking restrictions in town, barely anyone uses cars anyway resulting in only a couple of windows a day when the roads are congested (between 8am and 9:30am, and 5pm-6pm). As far as I can see the trams have caused chaos and even when they're up and running will only service a tiny fraction of the city; the majority of which is walking distance anyway, or served by the ubiquitos 22. The focus should have been on maintaining the already amazing bus service, encouraging people to use it more (the fare going up from £1 to £1.10 to £1.20 was rubbish) and paying for other essential maintenence in town. I think it's important to remember too that the SNP has consistently voted against trams; it was Labour's pet project and yet again the Lib Dems took any opportunity they could to jump into bed with the bigger party and sided with Labour. Not to get political or anything... read more

Somebody thought it would be a great idea to build a tram system in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a really terrible place to drive around in and we have a superb bus service (voted best in the uk for several years). So far the project has doubled in price and routes have been cut in half. So for one tramline from leith to the airport Traffic has been in chaos, and all the roads are dug up in no particular order for over a year so far. Only two more years to go and the amount of roadway available to cars and buses will be halved. A stupid project for crazy money and chaos. Welcome to Edinburgh. read more

Have to agree that Edinburgh streets are a mess at the moment - and once they finish the first round of roadworks they will start again and actually start laying the tracks. It will be 2011 before the first tram runs. I do think will be a good thing when we have them but is it worth the upheaval and hassle? No I don't think it is! read more

3 more years of chaos on the roads and I'm sure that in 2011 the roads will still be an absolute mess!!! I think there have been constant road works on my route to the work for the last 16 months now it is ridiculous. Roads are constantly being dug up an relaid. I also feel sorry for the many small shops and businesses that have disappeared due to the trams. Take Leith walk for example. The trams won't really benefit me as I live out with town. After all my criticism I am sure they will benefit some people who live on the tram routes but these routes are already serviced with a fantastic bus service. I think they are doing all they can to take our cars off the road really. Anyway rant over, I'll see if my opinion changes when the trams are up and running! read more

The best bit is that trams don't even run to the airport. They are going to stop short and you are going to have to get a bus the rest of the way. This really is Edinburgh's white elephant read more

I only used the tram on one occasion as I wasn't sure how far it was from my hotel into the centre. As it turned out it was only 2 stops and was only a 10 minute walk... Quicker than the tram in the traffic! I wouldn't recommend using them if you're going down Princes Street as the many bikes and cars also use the same lanes which can mean you are sat waiting for some time... They are good value though at only £3.50 for a day ticket (excluding the airport). I assume they would be good when you leave the busy streets though. read more

Good idea, which will make the transport around Edinburgh even easier and faster for everyone. Unfortunetely it does involve all the work being done in order to prepare the roads, which makes the city centre very hard to move arounf at the moment. At the moment it looks as a bad idea, because of all the chaos it cause, but it will be in Edinburgh for years and it will make it easier to move around the city when work is finished. read more

I am a foreign student and I live in Edinburgh, yesterday morning my mother and I were going to the airport so that she could catch her flight back home after she visited me. We took a tram in Shandwich place at around 13 pm and as soon as we walked in we were asked to show our ticket, my mom and I both purchased a daily ticket previously in the morning since we had a few buses to catch, which were checked from a member of staff and approved. We were carrying a big luggage, a clear sign that our final stop could very probably be the Airport. Once arrived at our destination we were proceeding to the exit when a couple of your members of staff stood in our way asking to show our ticket. We both presented our tickets and the two member of staff (a tall woman with grey hair and black glasses and an older bold man) both started telling us to go back because we didn't have the right tickets. Humbled I asked what was wrong with our daily tickets since there was nothing that suggested that a ticket to the airport is more expensive than a regular daily ticket, on the tram or at the tram stop. We were both told very rudely to pay a £10 fine per head if we wanted to cross to finally reach the entrance of the airport, unless we went back to the previous stop to catch a bus to then come back to where we already where. We tried to argue that my mom had a flight to catch and that we had no idea we had to get a different ticket to get there. The treatment reserved to us was humiliating and extremely rude. we had to go back and catch a bus. My mother almost lost her flight and almost had a panic attack. There was absolutely nothing that indicated that to get to the airport a ticket is more expensive that a normal £1.60 ticket or that a daily ticket is not valid for the same destination, members of staff need to make sure people have the right ticket according to their destination BEFORE they reach their destination and treat people with respect and good manners. Never catching that service ever again, takes longer that a bus ride and it's way more expensive. read more

Obviously a bad idea for cars and traffic around Edinburgh. Not much point to this idea, many people will just go on it once or twice for the experience then just forget/be annoyed by them for the rest of eternity. Too much money and hassle for such a bad idea. read more

having to reduce services, sell off city property not maintain schools, etc. etc. etc. Someone needs to answer for all the money wasted on this white elephant. read more

Labour has made a five star mess of this . was this really what scotland's parliament needed to do.? what about the unused suburban rail system.? read more

I would be more impressed with the trams (having seen the success of the Luas in Dublin) if the tram lines actually served more of the city! At time of writing, the line runs along what are the best bus routes in the city, whilst bus services get cut elsewhere. I do wish that more consideration was given to re-opening the suburban railway stations and having a halt at Edinburgh Airport. An argument against the halt at the Airport was that passengers would still have to be bussed to the terminal - it now transpires that the tram line will not actually go to the terminal and passengers willhave tp be bussed (a greater distance) anyway. Complete waste of time and money, and as for keeping Princes Street permanently closed to traffic bar trams and bicycles - think of us poor sods who have to use the buses! read more

This is a farce of a service. Poor ticket purchase procedure, no change given, poor detailing of route and card charges which are a rip off if you are doing short journeys. A poor showcase for our national tourist centre. read more

I'm looking forward to having trams back on Edinburgh's streets and I hope that line 1a will just be the first of many. But I also want a transport system in Edinburgh which is fully integrated which means easy interchange between all the transport modes - trams, buses, railways and the airport - so I hope that the first line will in fact achieve that notably by running direct to the airport terminal. O'wise it is a piece of expensive tomfoolery. read more

Recently visited Murrayfield. The way out from princess St worked fine. The way back from not even a full house at the stadium was terrible. There didn't seem a way for the operators to increase the flow rate of the trams to help clear the stadium causing an hours wait to get a tram for some. This on top of the staircase and platform being open to the elements meant a lot of rain soaked passengers. This was bad enough for us heading into the city centre but can only imagine how those heading to the airport to get on a flight home! Why oh why in a country we know isn't blessed with the best weather is there not a canopy? Use the trams when Edinburgh is quiet but if it's busy walk and take in the views while you get wet! read more