Edinburgh and Leith Trams

The first trams to run in the city of Edinburgh were horse-drawn and were operated by the Edinburgh Street Tramways Company. The inaugural service between Haymarket and Bernard Street in Leith started on 6 November, 1871. Horse trams were soon extended throughout the city and the separate Burgh of Leith.

In January, 1888 the Edinburgh Northern Tramways Company introduced a cable-hauled tram service from Hanover Street to Goldenacre to serve this exceptionally steep route. This system was based on the technology already in use on the San Francisco cable car system, invented by Andrew Smith Hallidie, who was born in London in 1836.

In February 1890 the Frederick Street to Comely Bank cable car route was opened.

Both routes were served by a depot and power house in Henderson Row with a single line connection to each.

As the two cable car routes proved very successful, Edinburgh Council made the decision to have all existing horse-drawn tram routes converted to the new cable car system. This involved the laying of hundreds of feet of cables throughout the city.

The cable trams spread throughout Edinburgh from October 1899 to 1908.

The Edinburgh cable tramway system was one of the largest in the world, with a total mileage of 36 miles. The total length of cables necessary to drive the cars on all routes was approximately 48 1/2 miles, the longest cable (measuring 34,000 feet) being used on the Pilrig to Liberton route.

In all 14 main cables were operated from four power stations:

Cable No.        Description           Length (ft)                   Power Station

     1                      Colinton              22,400                              Tollcross

     2                      Braids                  24,000                                   do.

     3                      Princes Street    18,900                                   do.

     4                      Gorgie                  26,900                                  do.

     5                      Grange                 24,000                                  do.

     6                      Murrayfield         22,000                                  do.

     7                      Stockbridge         15,000                          Henderson Row

     8                      Broughton           19,000                                    do.

     9                       Mound                 19,000                                   do.

    10                     Canonmills           4,100                                     do.

    11                      York Place           20,100                             Shrubhill

    12                      Liberton               33,600                                   do.

    13                      Portobello           32,700                            Portobello

    14                      Joppa                    1,200                                      do.

Routes served by the cable car system by 1919 were as follows:

Murrayfield and Nether Liberton via West End and G.P.O.; Pilrig and Saughton; Pilrig and Braid Hills;  Abbey Church and Morningside Station; Marchmont Road and Churchhill via Tollcross, West End; G.P.O., Salisbury Place, Surgeon’s Hall, Churchhill, Mound and Tollcross; Pilrig and Salisbury Place; Pilrig and Nether Liberton; Post Office and Joppa; Goldenacre and Craiglockhart via Canonmills; Leith Street, G.P.O., West End, Polwarth Terrace; Princes Street (Hanover Street) and Goldenacre; Princes Street (Frederick Street) and Comely Bank.

On 8 June, 1910, the first electric tramway in Edinburgh was inaugurated when a car conveying a number of officials ran from Ardmillan Terrace to the new cattle markets at Gorgie. The tram was towed from Shrubhill depot to Ardmillan Terrace by cable car.

The electric tramway was built as there was insufficient power at Tollcross Station to power the cable line.

It is interesting to note that, for a short period between 1881-82, steam trams operated on the Portobello line.

Leith Corporation would not countenance cable-hauled trams within their Burgh and purchased the horse-drawn Leith tram lines from Edinburgh Street Tramways in 1904 and in 1905 introduced electric traction. The fleet livery was Munich Lake and Ivory.

As Edinburgh and Leith were using different systems, through running from Edinburgh to Leith was impossible and required a change of vehicle from cable car to electric car at the Burgh boundaries at Pilrig. This arrangement was very unpopular with the general public and caused the situation to be dubbed the ‘Pilrig Muddle’.

The First World War was the beginning of the end for the cable car system in Edinburgh as many of the skilled drivers and maintenance staff were in the armed services. This caused serious deterioration to the complex installation of cables leading to many faults and severe delays to services.

This could not go on and the Corporation took over the cable car system on 1 July, 1919 creating Edinburgh Corporation Tramways Department with a remit to convert all the cable car routes to electric traction.

Edinburgh Corporation Tramways Department opted for four-wheeled double-deck trams painted dark red (madder) and white. A very similar colour scheme is used by Lothian Buses and Edinburgh’s new trams today.

Edinburgh Corporation Tramways Department took over the Leith system on 10 November, 1920 when the Burghs of Leith and Edinburgh acrimoniously merged, allowing, at last, a through service on Leith Walk.

The route-by-route conversion of the cable tramways to electric traction was completed on the following dates:

20 June 1922 - Pilrig to Liberton

20 June 1922 - Abbeyhill to St. Andrew Square

20 June 1922 - Salisbury Place to Church Hill

24 August 1922 - Liberton to Liberton Dams (extension)

28 August 1922 - Leith Street to Goldenacre

20 October 1922 - Post Office to Robertson Avenue

3 December 1922 - Haymarket to Murrayfield

21 December 1922 - Robertson Avenue to Saughton

21 January 1923 - West End, Princes Street to Marchmont Road

18 March 1923 - Tollcross to Braid Hills

15 April 1923 - Tollcross to Craiglockhart Station

29 April 1923 - Ardmillan Terrace to Slateford

20 May 1923 - Abbeyhill to Piershill

21 June 1923 - Murrayfield to Corstorphine

24 June 1923 - Waterloo Place to Joppa

On many routes, ironically, buses provided temporary transport until the conversion was completed. The last cable car ran on the Portobello line on 23 June 1923. A short section of original rail and cable track can still be seen in Waterloo Place.

In 1928 following the growing importance of buses Edinburgh Corporation Tramways Department was renamed Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department.

The last Edinburgh trams ran on 16 November, 1956. The main reason given for the switch to buses was the inflexibility of the tram routes should problems occur, as one incident could bring down the whole system. In contrast, many other cities worldwide kept, expanded and modernised their tram systems.

The only Edinburgh electric tram preserved is No. 35, built in 1948. This was originally housed in a small museum at Shrubhill depot. The museum closed in 1988 due to structural faults with the roof.

Tram No. 35 took part in the Blackpool Centenary celebrations in 1983 and also the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988. It is now housed at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire.

The conversion of the last cable car on the Portobello route in 1923 permitted the link between the electric tramway systems of Edinburgh and Musselburgh.

Musselburgh had its own electrified tram system from 1904. Passengers had to change to the cable-hauled Edinburgh trams at Joppa until 1923, when cable-operation final ceased. The Musselburgh system was subsequently incorporated into the Edinburgh system with the tramway to Port Seton, which opened in August, 1909, closing east of Levenhall in 1928. Musselburgh was served by Edinburgh trams until 1954.

Trams returned to Edinburgh on 31 May, 2014 under controversial circumstances but have proved extremely popular and are very well patronised. The trams are particularly popular with tourists travelling from Edinburgh Airport to the city centre.

On 7 June, 2023 an extension to Newhaven was opened and there are further plans to extend the system.

The modern tram differs quite considerably from the old trams not only in appearance but in many modern features making them much more user-friendly.

No more jumping on and off the back of moving trams! The new trams also carry many more passengers.

Two wheels unearthed in Leith Walk during the building of the extension to Newhaven that were thought to be winding wheels are in fact terminal sheaves.

The only ‘winding’ on the cable tramway took place at the power house, in this case at Shrubhill. The wheels have been put on permanent display at the west end of Iona Street, just off Leith Walk.

Leith Depot, or Depot Leith as it appeared on tram destination screens, saw Leith’s first electric tram enter service on 18 August, 1905. On 3 November, 1905 the system was officially opened by Provost Mackie. Leith Corporation’s electric trams ran only as far as Pilrig, the old boundary between Edinburgh and Leith.

The introduction of trams in 1905 led to the decline and eventual closure to passengers of many of Leith’s railway stations including the massive Leith Central station at the Foot of Leith Walk, which had only been opened since 1 July, 1903.

In addition to the tram depot on Leith Walk, Edinburgh Corporation developed a large workshop at Shrubhill, just a short distance from Pilrig, where trams were both serviced and built.

Shrubhill was also used occasionally as a tram depot. In recent years this site has been cleared and redeveloped.

Leith Depot has also been demolished and redeveloped although the building that housed the canteen and offices survives and has been refurbished.

There were four tram depots in Edinburgh and Leith:

Gorgie: Allocation: 77 cars. Services worked: 1,2, 3 and 4.

The depot served for a short time as a bus depot following the end of the trams but was closed in 1957 and sold.

Leith: Allocation: 157 cars. Services worked: 7, 8, 9 (part-day), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 25 and 28, also, it is believed, the latter-day service 22.

The depot was refurbished in 1937 and was converted to a bus garage in 1956. The actual tram depot was demolished in 2017. The canteen building still stands and has been converted for office use.

Portobello: Allocation: 53 cars. Services worked: 5, 15, 20, 21, 22 (Musselburgh) and 26. Being unsuitable for bus operation and in any event not required, it was closed when services 20 and 21 ceased in November, 1954, the site is now occupied by houses.

Tollcross: Allocation: 68 cars. Services worked: 6, 9, 18, 23, 24 and 27.

This depot, like Shrubhill and Portobello, had been a cable power station. The depot served until the end of the system but did not find favour as a bus garage, being sold and demolished although the canteen building still stands in Thornybauk. The site of the depot is now a fire station.

The system continued to expand during the 1930s with extensions from Gorgie to Stenhouse (1930), Braids to Fairmilehead (1936) and North Gyle to Maybury (1937).

As there was a need for further cars, Edinburgh took advantage of the closure of the Manchester Corporation system, buying eleven cars complete with trucks between 1947 and 1949. The Manchester trams were not in the best condition when they arrived in Edinburgh and required substantial refurbishment at Shrubhill works before they could be put into service. Although they resembled the standard car design, the refurbished trams were slightly longer and so in service were restricted to the relatively straight Levenhall route.

The war years did not have a great impact on Edinburgh’s trams, apart from curtailing further extensions and the system remained intact until 1950 when the opportunity was taken to provide a bus service to one of the new housing schemes beyond the tram routes. Service 18 was withdrawn and replaced by a bus service, also numbered 18, which ran from Davidson’s Mains to Burdiehouse.

In June of 1950 a recommendation was accepted to scrap 25% of the system. This involved the routes to Comely Bank, Stenhouse and Slateford.

Withdrawal of the Comely Bank route was first, in 1952, the others following later that year and in 1953, by which time it had been agreed to scrap the remainder of the system. The last Edinburgh trams ran on 16 November, 1956.

As a small boy I had fond memories of Leith Depot as my father, Henry (Harry) Vincent Fuller Williamson, was a tram driver and then a bus driver who worked out of Leith Depot.

My father was one of the first drivers of the then new One-Man-Operated (OMO) buses. He also ran the Edinburgh Corporation Amateur Boxing Club, which produced some very good boxers and he officiated as a boxing judge at the 1970 Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh.

Every summer there was a picnic to Alva with buses leaving from Smith’s Place, just off Leith Walk, festooned with streamers and full of excited children. At Christmas a children’s party was held in Leith Depot which was also was great fun.

Edinburgh Tram Routes

1950 - 1956

Service 1, Route Colours Red/Blue: Maybury - Corstorphine – Murrayfield – Haymarket – Princes Street - Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Newington Station – Craigmillar Park – Liberton (top of Liberton Brae). Withdrawn 28 March 1954.

Service 2, Route Colours Blue/Blue: Granton Square – Newhaven – Lindsay Road – Great Junction Street – Leith Walk – York Place – George Street – Haymarket – Dalry Road – Gorgie Road – Stenhouse. Withdrawn 14 December, 1952.

Service 3, Route Colours Blue/White: Stenhouse – Gorgie Road – Dalry Road – Haymarket – Princes Street – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Newington Station. Withdrawn 28 March, 1953.

Service 4, Route Colours White/Blue: Slateford Road – Dalry Road – Haymarket – Princes Street – York Place – London Road – Piershill. Withdrawn 2 May, 193.

Service 5, Route Colours White/Green: Morningside Road Station – Grange Road – Nicolson Street – Waverley – York Place – London Road – Piershill. Withdrawn 31 October, 1954.

Service 6, Route Colours White/Red: G.P.O. – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Grange Road – Melville Drive – Tollcross – Lothian Road – Princes Street – G.P.O. (Circular route both directions – Marchmont Circle). Withdrawn 27 May, 1956.

Service 7, Route Colours Red/Red: Newhaven – Stanley Road – Ferry Road – Great Junction Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Newington Station- Craigmillar Park – Liberton. Withdrawn 11 March, 1956.

Service 8, Route Colours Red/Yellow: Granton Square – Granton Road – Inverleith Row – Broughton Street – York Place – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Newington Station. Withdrawn 3 April, 1955.

Service 9, Route Colours Yellow/Yellow: Granton Square – Granton Road – Inverleith Row – Broughton Street – York Place – Princes Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Gilmore Place – Colinton Road – Firrhill – Colinton. Withdrawn 23 October, 1955.

Service 10, Route Colours White/Yellow: Granton Square – Lindsay Road - Commercial Street - Bernard Street – Constitution Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Princes Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Gilmore Place – Colinton Road – Firrhill – Colinton. Withdrawn 23 October, 1955.

Service 11, Route Colours Red/White: Newhaven – Stanley Road – Pilrig Street – Leith Walk – York Place - Princes Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Bruntsfield Place – Morningside Road Station – Comiston Road – Fairmilehead. Withdrawn 12 September, 1956.

Service 12, Route Colours Yellow/Blue: Corstorphine – Murrayfield – Haymarket – Princes Street – York Place – Leith Walk – Hermitage Place – Seafield Road – Portobello – Joppa. Withdrawn 11 June, 1954.

Service 13, Route Colours White/Green: Granton Square – Newhaven – Lindsay Road – Great Junction Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Princess Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Bruntsfield Place – Grange Road – Nicolson Street – Waverley Station – York Place – Leith Walk Pilrig Street – Ferry Road – Granton Road – Granton (Circular route, double loop, one direction). Withdrawn 17 June, 1956.

Service 14, Route Colours Yellow/Green: Granton Square – Granton Road – Ferry Road – Pilrig Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street - Grange Road – Bruntsfield Place – Tollcross – Lothian Road – Princes Street – York Place – Leith Walk - Great Junction Street – Lindsay Road – Newhaven – Granton (Circular route, double loop, one direction: see Service 13). Withdrawn 17 June, 1956.

Service 15, Route Colours Green/White: King’s Road – Portobello Road – London Road – York Place – Princess Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Bruntsfield Place – Morningside Road Station – Comiston Road – Fairmilehead. Withdrawn 19 September, 1954.

Service 16, Route Colours Green/Green: Granton Square – Granton Road – Ferry Road – Great Junction Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Princes Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Bruntsfield Place – Morningside Road Station – Comiston Road – Fairmilehead. Withdrawn 12 September, 1956. (NB: From January, 1954, Service 16 swapped northern termini with Service 10 and became, Bernard Street-Constitution Street, then as before from Foot of Leith Walk, when Services 13/14 were withdrawn in June 1956. Service 16, for the final 3 months, returned to Granton but this time via Newhaven.

Service 17, Route Colours White/White: Granton Square – Newhaven – Lindsay Road – Bernard Street – Constitution Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Newington Station. Withdrawn 11 March, 1956.

Service 18, Route Colours Yellow/White: Waverley Bridge – Princess Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Melville Drive – Grange Road – Newington Station – Craigmillar Park – Liberton Dams. Withdrawn 2 March, 1950, the first route to go but did not involve any track loss.

Service 19, Route Colours Green/Red: Seafield (Craigentinny Avenue North) – Seafield Road – Hermitage Place – Leith Walk – York Place – Waverley Station – Nicolson Street – Melville Drive – Tollcross. Withdrawn 27 May, 1956.

Service 20, Route Colours Red/Red: Post Office (G.P.O.) – Regent Road – London Road – Portobello Road – Portobello – Joppa. Withdrawn 13 November, 1952.

Service 21, Route Colours Green/Green: Post Office (G.P.O.) – Regent Road – London Road – Portobello Road – Portobello – Joppa – Musselburgh – Levenhall. Withdrawn 13 November, 1954.

Service 22, Route Colours Blue/Blue: Lindsay Road – Great Junction Street – Leith Walk – York Place – George Street – Haymarket – Dalry Road – Gorgie Road -Stenhouse. Withdrawn 14 December, 1952, in effect a short working of Service 2.

Service 23, Route Colours Green/Yellow: Granton Road Station – Inverleith Row – Dundas Street – Mound – George IV Bridge - Lauriston Place – Tollcross – Bruntsfield Place – Morningside Road Station. This was one of the last two routes to run until the final day, 16 November, 1956.

Service 24, Route Colours Red/Red: Waverley Bridge – Comely Bank. Withdrawn 1 June, 1952 - the first route to go which involved the loss of track.

Service 25, Route Colours Blue/Yellow: Drum Brae South – Murrayfield – Haymarket – Princess Street – York Place – Leith Walk – Hermitage Place – Seafield Road – King’s Road. Withdrawn 11 July, 1954.

Service 26, Route Colours Blue/Red: Drum Brae South – Murrayfield – Haymarket – Princes Street – York Place – London Road – Piershill (before August, 1952 the western terminus was Drum Brae South. Withdrawn 11 July, 1954.

Service 27, Route Colours Yellow/Red: Granton Road Station – Inverleith Row – Dundas Street – Mound - George IV Bridge - Lauriston Place – Tollcross – Gilmore Place – Colinton Road – Firrhill (after June, 1954 the southern terminus became Craiglockhart). Withdrawn 7 August, 1955.

Service 28, Route Colours Blue/Green: Newhaven – Stanley Road – Pilrig Street – Leith Walk – York Place – Princess Street – Lothian Road – Tollcross – Bruntsfield Place – Morningside Road Station – Comiston Road – Braids (introduced in 1946, the 28 was in effect a part day short working of route 11 but was one of the last 2 routes to run to the last day, 16 November, 1956).

The Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department Electric Car Fleet

At its height in 1948-1950, the Edinburgh tram fleet totaled 371 cars, the majority built by the Corporation at Shrubhill. The initial fleet in 1919 comprised over 200 cable cars acquired from the Edinburgh & District Company, plus the four cable cars that had been converted to electric cars for the isolated Slateford route. Between 1921 and 1924 the majority of the cable cars were converted to electric cars and some of these survived in the fleet until 1947. In 1922 and 1923 new electric cars were bought from outside builders, while Shrubhill was concentrating on converting cable cars. 

Twenty cars were bought from English Electric in 1924, the same year Shrubhill started building its own standard cars, producing 114 between 1924 and 1931. Twenty-five more standards were built at Shrubhill in 1932-1934, as well as ten similar cars from Pickering in 1933/1934.

However, Edinburgh was looking towards a new standard design of car, and in 1932/1933 built two prototypes at Shrubhill, and bought 34 contemporary all-metal cars from outside builders. In 1935 the first of what would become the new standard design emerged from Shrubhill, and 83 more were built between 1935 and 1950. The only other cars to join the fleet were 11 former Manchester cars in 1947-1949.

Most of the trams that replaced the rebuilt cable cars inherited the fleet numbers of the withdrawn cable cars, resulting in an apparently random numbering system. The highest numbered cable car was No. 228 so some cars were numbered in sequence, using higher numbers or, in the case of the 1935 streamliners, lower numbers (11-30). The former Leith Corporation cars, Nos. 1-37, acquired in 1920, became Edinburgh Nos. 231-267.

The Edinburgh fleet remained at a steady 360 trams between 1935 and 1947, grew slightly to 371 in 1947, then started a steady decline from 1951, until there were just 99 cars in the fleet at the start of the last year, 1956. 

The last of the Shrubhill-built wooden standards survived into 1956, as did the last of the cars from outside builders, though on the final day every remaining car was one of the 1935-style Shrubhill standards, apart from Shrubhill experimental car No. 180.

To see pictures of both Edinburgh's cable cars and electric trams as well as Leith's electric cars please visit my Flickr site under the album Edinburgh, Granton and Leith Trams and Cable Cars.