Start of Spokes tramline pages...
Tram issues and development
Separate page for the tramline extension to Leith & Newhaven
Separate page for Granton to Bioquarter
See also our Princes Street and City Centre page
Contents
1. Important – Reporting tramline crashes
2. Minimising your chances of a tramline crash
3. Developments & documents relating to Edinburgh tram
4. Other useful tram documents [not Edinburgh], including design guidance
1. Reporting tramline crashes
All crashes or other incidents relating to tramlines should be reported – this will help future potential victims by identifying causes and possible remedial measures. It may also help you if you later decide to make a claim for injury or damage.
See our reporting page which covers..
Making an official report to the Council
Spokes survey/records of crashes, to help identify causes and press for improvements
Police – when/why report a tramline crash?
Claiming for injury or damages [also see para 2301 in (2) below for some successes]
Please check out our reporting page even if your tramline crash was in the past and even if you have already made a report to the Council, police or elsewhere.
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2. Minimising your chances of a tramline crash
See our information sheet, which also includes some background on tramline bike crashes and why they happen.
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Spokes information sheet, last updated Nov 2025
TRAMLINE BIKE-CRASH DANGERS, AND HOW TO MINIMISE THE RISKS
Spokes has received many reports of crashes on Edinburgh’s tramlines, some with serious injury. Based on
this, and other sources, we here make suggestions for reducing your chances of becoming another victim.
If you have had a tramline crash (recently or in the past) please complete our survey, which provides us
with useful information about the nature and causes of tramline crashes. We also suggest where and
how to report your crash formally – and to get legal advice if necessary.
Here ... www.spokes.org.uk/documents/public-transport/tram.
How to Minimise the Likelihood of a Tramline Crash
(a) approach the tramline as close to 90 degrees as possible – unfortunately the tramline layout is such
that anything near to 90 degrees is impossible in many places
(b) it is often said that an angle of 60 degrees or more is pretty safe from the trapping hazard – but skidding
is still a serious risk, especially if wet. Angles below 45 degrees are increasingly risky for both hazards
(c) cross the tramlines in a straight line, not cornering. When cornering, the bike is leaning slightly, which
makes skidding more likely
(d) avoid braking when crossing tramlines – this can make skidding more likely
(e) do not slow down to cross tramlines, and do keep a sensitive but firm grip on your handlebars. This
should help your wheel to roll over the tramline groove with less chance of being deflected into it
(f) as far as possible (and it is often not possible) keep a good distance from motor vehicles, especially
behind you. Traffic pressures make crashes more likely, for example affecting your crossing angle
(g) cycling between tramlines can provide a relatively traffic-free route, but we don’t advise it because it
requires two tramline crossings at dodgy angles - and we know of crashes that have resulted
(h) be very aware that many of the crashes reported to Spokes are from experience…
BACKGROUND TO TRAMLINE CRASHES AND WHY THEY HAPPEN
1. Layout of the tramline network
Tramline layouts should aim to minimise or avoid bike/tramline interaction as far as possible. The ideal
solution is segregated bike lanes, with tramline crossing points at angles as close as possible to 90 degrees.
Sadly, the Edinburgh phase 1 layout neglected this and so is more prone to tramline bike crashes than it
needed to be. The Princes Street tramlines are in the centre of the road, with a wide central reservation,
rather than tramlines on one side of the road and a segregated bike lane on the other. Thus you are cycling
on the roadway with no physical separation from the tramlines - and crossing angles tend to be poor.
Phase 2 learned from this and provided segregated bike lanes in Leith Walk: the bike lane designs could be
better, but thanks to segregation from tramlines we have not had a single tramline crash reported there.
A particularly dangerous (and scary) layout feature is where you are expected to cycle on the road adjacent
to the tramline, and there is limited width. In this case you may hit the tramline at a dangerous angle as a
result of some unexpected and unavoidable event; for example...
If there is kerb on your left, a walker may step off the pavement without looking, so you move right
to avoid hitting them; we know of one such a crash, with very serious injuries, at Haymarket Yards.
This could also occur just before Haymarket Stn, where the bike lane abuts footway and tramline.
If there is a traffic lane on your left (as in Princes Street, at the West End junction heading for
Shandwick Place) you may be forced to the right by a long vehicle or aggressive driver.
2. Travel direction
There are two types of crashes
You are needing to cross all the rails, e.g. at a junction, or to get to the other side of the road
You are cycling in the same direction as the rails: surprisingly, there are many such crashes.
3. Presence of traffic
This is a major aggrav…
4. Construction detail
Does the top of the tramline protrude above the road surface? Where this is the case, skidding is
much more likely. We understand that ORR (now UK Tram) guidance suggests a 6mm tolerance
between +3mm/-3mm above/below the road surface level.
Even where construction was done correctly, this height distance may worsen if the adjacent road
surface sinks
Further hazards can occur if other construction or maintenance flaws result in gaps between the
road surface and the tramline, or in the road surface breaking up
According to experienced tram/railway commentator Dave Holladay, all the above apply in parts of
Edinburgh’s first tramline – see his article referenced in (6) below.
5. Skidding and wetness
Crashes can occur when wheels...
get trapped in tramlines, thus stopping instantly
skid on tramlines – contrary to public perception, our crash reports survey suggests that more
tramline bike crashes result from skidding on the rails than from wheels getting trapped. Of 72
reported cases, 38% said they were caused by skidding, 21% by skidding followed by wheel-
trapping, and only 31% by wheel-trapping alone.
Skidding...
is more likely when it is wet
is more likely when tramlines protrude above the road surface, as in (4) above, or if there are
certain other construction or maintenance defects
is more likely when meeting the tramline at a small angle, but can occur at any angle, even angles
considered safe from trapping
6. More about tramline crashes
There is more about tramlines and tramline crashes, including how to report crashes, the history of
the Edinburgh system as it affects cycling, and more, on the Spokes website, at
www.spokes.org.uk/documents/public-transport/tram
There is now an online portal linking to UK campaign group
tramcrash reporting sites - initially Edinburgh, Sheffield and
Nottingham. Find it at tramcrash.co.uk – see graphic
There is an interesting commentary on the Edinburgh tramlines
(phase 1) by transpor…
#Tramlines & 🚲 #crash
🙋 Our info--> www.spokes.org.uk/documents/pu...
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