Edinburgh Tram Ticket Prices Revealed

A ticket for Edinburgh's new trams, due to be running by May 2014, will be the same price as a bus ticket Edinburgh city leaders have announced.

The initial price will be £1.50 for a single adult journey and 70p for a child.

However, at £7.50 (£4 child fare), a return tram fare from Edinburgh Airport to the city centre will cost more than the current Airlink bus service at £6 return.

Critics have also pointed out that the Airlink bus is faster, taking typically 27 minutes from Edinburgh Airport terminal to Waverley Station in the city centre, compared to the 33 minute journey for the tram from the airport to St Andrew Square. 

Transport Convener Lesley Hinds said: "Like most cities there’s an airport supplement and this is part of the business model to ensure the service is cost effective in operation.”

Edinburgh Tram Fares

• City single
  Adult - £1.50 Child - £0.70
• Ingliston Park & Ride single
  Adult £2.50 Child - £1.50
• Airport single
  Adult - £4.50 Child - £2.50
• Airport return (to/from airport only)
  Adult £7.50 Child - £4.00
• Tram & Bus day ticket - city only
  Adult £3.50 Child £2.00
• Tram & Bus day ticket – Park & Ride & city
  Adult £5.00 Child £3.00
• Tram & Bus day ticket - network wide including airport
  Adult £8.00 Child £4.50

Of note is that day tickets will be usable across both tram and bus and Ridacards will be valid throughout the entire route.

Last month the Council set out plans to create a new organisation, Transport for Edinburgh, to integrate transport services in the Capital starting with the tram and bus services. Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams were confirmed as the operators.

“With the end of tram works nearing and a passenger service in sight, this is the perfect time to develop a new approach to transport in our city. With their existing knowledge and expertise Lothian Buses is ideally positioned to thrive with the tram and I’m very pleased that we’re working in partnership with them," said Hinds.

Key Edinburgh tram dates 2013-2014

• 1st October: City centre will be clear of tram civil engineering works
• 12 October: Haymarket (Dalry Road to Manor Place) set to reopen to traffic
• 19th October: Shandwick Place crescents to open
• 9 December: Start of full route testing of trams from airport to Edinburgh city centre
• May 2014: Trams in operation 

Trams for Free

Users of the National Entitlement Card will be able to use their cards on the tram through a Council funded scheme.

Earlier this year Cllr Hinds said: "We are determined that Edinburgh residents who are eligible for free travel across the country should be able to use the tram on the same basis. The tram needs to be wholly integrated into the national transport network and, for me, this means that over 60s and people with disabilities should have free use of the service.”

On revised budget

The council says the project remains in line with the revised budget (£776m) approved by the Council in September 2011, with work either ahead of schedule or in line with the revised timescale reported in December 2011.

Edinburgh Trams