City recycles plan for bikes on trams

TRANSPORT bosses have pledged to reconsider allowing bikes on the city's new trams after they were ruled out over safety concerns.

The city's transport leader, Phil Wheeler, said an investigation into how cyclists used trams elsewhere in Europe had been reopened.

No other UK network allows bikes on board but off-peak access is allowed on lines in cities such as Brussels, Strasbourg and Basel. Cycle lobby group Spokes has been pressing city leaders to follow their example.

Tram chiefs have already agreed to look again at plans to cut back cycle lanes and bike-friendly greenways to make way for the £498 million project.

However, a report published this week by Transport Edinburgh Limited – the company that will run the bus and tram network – said that at present carrying bikes on trams "cannot be achieved in a safe and efficient manner, without causing undue discomfort and risk to other passengers". Spokes member Ian Maxwell said: "We are still hopeful that an agreement can be reached.

"It seems straightforward enough in so many other European cities, I don't see why it is proving quite so difficult in Edinburgh.

"The problem is that none of the other UK tram systems have taken the plunge with this and I think there is a nervousness about being the first."

The majority of tram stops west of Haymarket and north of Picardy Place will have cycle parking facilities where people can leave their bikes.

Green councillor Steve Burgess challenged Councillor Wheeler at Thursday's full council meeting on whether bikes on trams had been completely ruled out.

Cllr Wheeler said: "This matter is not closed, more work is being done. For example, there has been a visit from a Dutch expert to see how trams and bikes can co-exist."

Cycle groups and officials from TIE, the council-backed firm in charge of the trams, are currently digesting the recommendations of a Dutch traffic expert brought in to assess controversial proposals to cut back cycle lanes and bike-friendly greenways on Princes Street and Leith Walk.

The plans, put forward in October, would involve Leith Walk being reduced to one lane of traffic each way, with the tram running in the middle. There will be a one-metre gap between parking spaces and the traffic lane, but it won't be classified as a cycle lane and cars will be allowed in it.

In Princes Street the pavement on the shopping side will be narrowed, but a decision has still to be taken on whether dedicated cycle lanes will remain.

Neil Renilson, chief executive of Transport Edinburgh Limited, said: "There will be a further investigation into whether any way can be found that would allow cycles to be carried safely inside trams."