Dear Sir,

You (News, January 2) continue to describe the route of tram line 1b from Haymarket to Granton as the "Roseburn Urban Wildlife Corridor".
  
It actually is a pedestrian and cycle way which follows the disused trackbed of a portion of Edinburgh's former north suburban railways whose city centre terminus was the old Princes Street station behind the Caledonian Hotel.
  
Just as it was relatively easy and painless to build the West Approach Road on the first stretch of the old trackbed, so to build a tram line on the old trackbed from Haymarket north will not be difficult or expensive - with no utilities to divert and little disruption to the life of the city besides.

This corridor serves an area of great importance for the future prosperity and sustainable development of Edinburgh - especially if, as is now proposed, the proportion of affordable family housing to be built in Granton is higher than in the original plans for the area.

If such a fast, segregated transport corridor to and from the city centre did not already exist, it would cost many hundreds of millions of pounds to create - with much demolition of homes and businesses involved. A fixed price of £87m - if a commitment is made by this spring - is therefore a real bargain for the city.

It should be firmly grasped - and with the Scottish Government providing any necessary financial help. Edinburgh is, after all, the nation's capital.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Lawrence Marshall
Chair
Capital Rail Action Group

Tuesday 6th January 2009:

David Mallender, Public Relations Manager, First TransPennine Express

Venue: Quaker Meeting House
19:00 for 19:30 start.

Dear Sir,

Any decision to axe tram line 1b to Granton (News, November 20) would surely run counter to the current belief of both the UK and Scottish governments that public works spending is even more essential in times of economic recession.

There's a fixed price for the work - £87m. It has Parliamentary consent. It can proceed seamlessly with the construction work to build tram line 1a. Moreover, running almost entirely off-street, it would entail almost no disruption to life in the city.

The transport minister, Stewart Stevenson, has already recognised the "sense" in building on the current tram project. He's also the man responsible for the difficulties at Gogar where, with the cancellation of the airport rail link, the tram depot now has to also encompass an interchange with both rail and bus on a very constrained site.

It was always a tall order for the city to be able to fund line 1b. Rather the Scottish Government should now step in to ensure that this extension can be contractually committed.


This will stimulate the economy in its time of need and do so at a price much less than will be the case if tendered separately at some future date.

It will also be a hefty shot in the arm for the Waterfront development which, with hopefully an increasing percentage of family housing, is vital to the future ability of Edinburgh to meet the housing needs of its workforce - thus helping to reduce the outflow of workers to homes in the Lothians and Fife with all the attendant transport problems such out of town commuters bring with them and at whom hundreds of millions of pounds of public money has already been directed.
 
Lawrence Marshall
Chair
Capital Rail Action Group

CRAG's evidence to the 16/12/08 meeting of the Petitions Committee is now available at http://archive.transformscotland.org.uk/campaigns/reopenthesouthsub/docs/2008-12-01_Petitions_Committee_submission.pdf (44 KB).

SEPTEMBER 2008

Thursday 25th: FoE Edinburgh - ""The best climate change bill in the world?" by Corinne Evans, Head of Projects & Campaigns, Friends of the Earth Scotland

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OCTOBER 2008

Thursday 2nd: SRPS - "The Northern Belle" by P (Sam) Woods: cruising in style with the LNER, an illustrated talk on the LNER's innovative 1930s land cruise

Friday 3rd: LRTA - Area AGM and members' slides

Tuesday 7th: CRAG - Bill Reeve, Head of Rail Delivery, Transport Scotland, will speak on the many projects being planned and implemented by Transport Scotland to enhance the nation's railway

Friday 10th: RCTS - "Railways of the Isle of Man" by Ian Hastie

Friday 17th: RCTS - Annual Branch Dinner

Thursday 30th: FoE Edinburgh - "Climate Change and Africa" by Francis Kahembwe, Environmental Activist from Uganda

Friday 31st: LRTA - "New Tramways in the South of France" by Alastair Gunn

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NOVEMBER 2008

Tuesday 4th: CILT - "Impressions of Japan" by Paul Tetlaw, Chair, Transform Scotland: a 19-day tour in April 2007 by tram, bus, ferry and railways old and new (from the latest Shinkansen series to steam trains)

Tuesday 4th: CRAG – Cllr. Russell Imrie, Chair, South East of Scotland Transport Partnership (SEStran - <http://www.sestran.gov.uk/>www.sestran.gov.uk), will discuss the work of SEStran and also, as Midlothian Council cabinet member for Strategic Services, how Midlothian's public transport needs can be linked into Edinburgh’s (note: as the CILT meeting starts at 6.00 p.m., it should be possible to come straight to the CRAG meeting at 7.30 p.m. from the CILT meeting if wished)

Thursday 6th: SRPS - SRPS Grand Challenge Quiz : teams from the Society display their railway knowledge in their annual bid to win the SRPS Callenge Trophy (Questionmaster - Angus Rex)

Friday 14th: RCTS - "Lines to Leven" by Andrew Hadjucki

Saturday 15th: Railfuture Scotland - autumn meeting on the theme of "Tram-Trains" with Scott McIntosh of Mott MacDonald, Royal Overseas League, 100 Princes Street, Edinburgh, 2.00 p.m.

Thursday 27th: First ScotRail - Edinburgh customer forum, Royal College of Physicians, 9 Queen Street, Edinburgh, 6.00 p.m. for 6.30 p.m. (register before 24th November on 0141 335 4391 or by e-mail at <mailto:customerforums@firstgroup.com>customerforums@firstgroup.com)

Thursday 27th: FoE Edinburgh - "Transport and Climate Change" by Colin Howden, Director, Transport Scotland
Friday 28th: LRTA – "Edinburgh's Cable Tramways" by Paul Geissler

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DECEMBER 2008

Tuesday 2nd: CILT - "The Airdrie-Bathgate Railway Reopening" by Ron McAulay, Director Scotland, Network Rail

Tuesday 2nd: CRAG - Dave Anderson, Director of City Development, City of Edinburgh Council, will give us his thoughts on the direction of public transport in Edinburgh including trains, trams, tram-trains and buses (note: as the CILT meeting starts at 6.00 p.m., it should be possible to come straight to the CRAG meeting at 7.30 p.m. from the CILT meeting if wished)

Wednesday 3rd: SPOKES - autumn public meeting on the theme of "Cycling as part of Transport Policy in Edinburgh" with Marshall Poulton, Head of Transport, City of Edinburgh Council

Thursday 4th: SRPS - Members Slides Evening. Contributions welcome - contact Peter Howell. Followed by seasonal refreshment

Friday 12th: RCTS - AGM (at 7.00 p.m.) followed by members' slides, prints, digital photographs and anecdotes (with seasonal refreshments planned for the interval)

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JANUARY 2009

 
Tuesday 6th: CRAG - Dave Mallender, Public Relations Manager, First TransPennine Express (<http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/>www.tpexpress.co.uk), will speak on the aspirations of the franchise with an emphasis on services to Scotland

Thursday 8th: SRPS - "Edinburgh's Railways": Edinburgh's changing railway scene by Douglas Yuill

Friday 9th: RCTS - "Round and About in 2008" by Hugh Gould

Tuesday 13th: CILT - The CILT (UK) Scottish Region Annual Political Event: Patrick Harvie MSP on "The role of the Scottish Parliament's Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee" - of which he is chair
(note: in the Royal Scots Club, 29 Abercomby Place, Edinburgh)
(note: non-members are welcome to attend but booking is required on 01536 740104 or by e-mail at <mailto:membership@ciltuk.org.uk>membership@ciltuk.org.uk - please quote booking code SR065)

Friday 30th: LRTA - "Trams from Hong Kong, North America and Europe" by Keith Jones

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FEBRUARY 2009

 
Tuesday 3rd: CRAG - Graham Bell handles the publicity side of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’s (<http://www.edinburghchamber.co.uk/>www.edinburghchamber.co.uk) activity with the media, politicians etc.. He is close to the heart of Edinburgh Chamber’s policy making and thus able to give us a valuable insight into the views of the business community on the transport needs of Edinburgh, including high speed rail to England

Thursday 5th: SRPS - "Favourite Places, Favourite Trains" by Ian Lothian: Ian shares his favourite railway slides and reveals the influences on his photography

Friday 13th: RCTS - "Signalboxes of the Aire Valley" by Malcolm Riley

Wednesday 25th: CILT - The CILT (UK) Scottish Region Annual Sustainable Event: Riccardo Marini, City Design Leader, City of Edinburgh Council, on "Transport and placemaking for sustainable communities" - with particular reference to Edinburgh's trams
(note: non-members are welcome to attend but booking is required on 01536 740104 or by e-mail at <mailto:membership@ciltuk.org.uk>membership@ciltuk.org.uk - please quote booking code SR055)

Friday 27th: LRTA - Members’ Slides. Contributions welcome – contact George Murray

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MARCH 2009

 
Tuesday 3rd: CILT - "Virgin Trains - Some Reflections" by Allan McLean, Communications Manager for Scotland and North England, Virgin Trains

Tuesday 3rd: CRAG - Neil Renilson, Chief Executive, Transport Edinburgh Ltd., will speak on the challenges of integrating tram and bus operations in Edinburgh (note: as the CILT meeting starts at 6.00 p.m., it should be possible to come straight to the CRAG meeting at 7.30 p.m. from the CILT meeting if wished)

Thursday 5th: SRPS - Provisional: Network Rail speaker on Stirling Alloa Line reopening

Friday 13th: RCTS - "Industrial Railways" by Alastair Ness

Friday 27th: LRTA - "Nostalgic Edinburgh & Glasgow Slides from the 1940s and 1950s" by Richard J S Wiseman

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APRIL 2009

 
Thursday 2nd: SRPS - Provisional: Prof. Chris Harvie MSP

Tuesday 7th: CRAG - Paul Salveson, Head of Government and Community Strategies for Northern Rail (<http://www.northernrail.org/>www.northernrail.org) will speak on the challenges of this extensive franchise, including the forthcoming tram-trains trial on the Penistone line and his continuing work in promoting community involvement in the railway industry - followed by AGM

Friday 17th: RCTS - "Steam in Ayrshire in the 50s and 60s" by Bill Hamilton

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MAY 2009

 
Friday 8th: RCTS - topic and speaker to be announced
 
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Meeting places and contact details:

SRPS (Scottish Railway Preservation Society): Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh at 7.30 p.m.
- contact Dr Peter Howell on 0131 334 5232. Visit website at <http://www.srps.org.uk/>www.srps.org.uk

CRAG (Capital Rail Action Group): Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh at 7.15 p.m. (refreshments) for 7.30 p.m.
- contact Patrick Hutton on 0131 558 8042 (<mailto:patrickh@6brc.freeserve.co.uk)>patrickh@6brc.freeserve.co.uk). Visit website at <http://www.capitalrail.org.uk/>www.capitalrail.org.uk

RCTS (Railway Correspondence and Travel Society): Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh at 7.30 p.m.
- contact D.W.Wright on 0131 447 9389 (<mailto:d.wright@napier.ac.uk>d.wright@napier.ac.uk)

LRTA (Light Rail Transit Association): Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh at 7.30 p.m.
- contact George P.Murray on 0131 538 2375. Visit website at <http://www.lrta.org/>www.lrta.org

CILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport): City Chambers, High Street, Edinburgh at 5.30 p.m. (refreshments) for 6.00 p.m..
- contact David Reid on 01383 825510. Visit website at <http://www.ciltscotland.com/>www.ciltscotland.com

RailFuture Scotland: contact Mike Harrison on 0131 448 0930 (<mailto:Secretary@RailFutureScotland.org.uk>Secretary@RailFutureScotland.org.uk). Visit website at <http://www.railfuturescotland.org.uk/>www.railfuturescotland.org.uk

SPOKES (The Lothian Cycle Campaign): Augustine United Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh at 7.30 p.m. (coffee from 6.45 p.m.)
- contact Jackie Howlett at <mailto:jackieh@waitrose.com>jackieh@waitrose.com or on 0131 664 0526. Visit website at <http://www.spokes.org.uk/>www.spokes.org.uk

FoE (Friends of the Earth) Edinburgh: Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh at 7.30 p.m.
- contact Colin Howden at <mailto:info@foe-edinburgh.org.uk>info@foe-edinburgh.org.uk Visit website at <http://www.foe-edinburgh.org.uk/>www.foe-edinburgh.org.uk

Edinburgh People and Planet: Potterow Chaplaincy, Edinburgh at 7.00 p.m.
- Visit website at <http://pandp.eusa.ed.ac.uk/>http://pandp.eusa.ed.ac.uk

Tuesday 7th October:

Bill Reeve, Head of Rail Delivery, Transport Scotland

Tuesday 4th November:

Russell Imrie, Chair, SEStran
 

Tuesday 2nd December:

Dave Anderson, Director of City Development, City of Edinburgh Council