Name: Tram Trains for Edinburgh
Start: 2026-04-23T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-04-23T20:50:00+01:00
Location: The Nucleus Building, The University of Edinburgh

Come along to find out how tram-trains on the South Suburban railway line could speed up your journeys across Edinburgh !
About this Event

Tram Trains for Edinburgh was set up in autumn 2025 to campaign to bring back public transport on the Edinburgh South Suburban line (the ‘South Sub’). This is partly in response to the significant public interest in the proposal to run tram trains on the South Sub, developed by Heriot-Watt students in early 2025.

This meeting will have a special focus on how tram trains could speed up your Edinburgh journeys from the area around the venue e.g. Blackford and Newington. How can the tram-train be included in the planned developments at Cameron Toll and best integrated with the proposed North-South tram route.

The route of the South Sub would provide a direct and fast connection between the east & west sides of the city, Fort Kinnaird, Cameron Toll, Morningside, Tynecastle, etc. and including some poorly served residential areas; whilst also providing connections to commercial, employment, medical and leisure destinations beyond the route itself. In addition, encouraging people onto public transport reduces traffic congestion, provides new economic opportunities and helps achieve our sustainability objectives. The proposal is not intended to compete with the City Council’s North-South tram route but rather would be complementary to it.

Over the years there have been various campaigns to re-open the South Sub but these have faltered on the grounds of cost and impracticability – especially a lack of rail capacity through Waverley & Haymarket. The tram-trains proposal is to run trams on the existing South Sub rail infrastructure but connect with the tram line at Murrayfield, enabling access to the city centre, the airport and Leith. Use of cheaper tram train technology, together with the underused Network Rail infrastructure, offers a game-changing option to improve the capital’s public transport.