Wednesday September 2nd 2026
Proposed route map for phases 1 and 2 of the South Sub project
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Edinburgh Council has highlighted how the ‘South Sub’ feasibility study compliments the tram proposal with plans to recommend a Strategic Business case at a council meeting next week.
It has been recently revealed that plans to build a new tramline linking the city centre to the north of the city are likely to be shelved following a row over the potential route, leading space for a discussion surrounding the feasibility of using Edinburgh’s ‘South Sub’ line to extend the tram system.
Next week the Council’s TEC will meet to recommend producing a Strategic Business case for the North-South tram extension. Councillors are advised to take forward the Strategic Business case for the southern section, from the City Centre to the Bioquarter, whilst keeping the whole North-South tram route on the table for later.
The council’s preferred route to run the extension from Granton through the Roseburn Path has faced strong opposition from campaigners and local residents.
The proposed Roseburn Path section is also expected to come with a significant cost, with the council estimating £2.5 billion for the route.
Despite this, an alternative southern route was also under consultation which would run across Dean Bridge from Orchard Brae but the council’s transport and environment committee has recommended halting the plans. The council have announced that it recognises that the southern section of the tram proposal both supports, and is supported by, the scheme to reopen the ‘South Sub’.
The ‘South Sub’ is a disused railway route running through south Edinburgh. Proposals have been developed in recent years to bring the route back into use as a tram-train service, potentially improving public transport links between communities in the south of the city, the city centre and the BioQuarter.
The potential connection at Cameron Toll is particularly significant, with campaigners arguing that a South Sub tram-train service could work alongside the proposed North-South tram extension to create a wider network across Edinburgh.
Tram Trains for Edinburgh (‘TTfE’) strongly supports a full tram network that would have both the Council’s North-South extension and the South Sub at its heart. Connected at Cameron Toll, the two lines would serve both the city and the wider region, reducing congestion and providing fast, efficient and ‘green’ public transport for all our residents.
The campaign group was founded in August 2025 to ‘promote the construction and use of public transport in Edinburgh by the use of tram-train technology and to integrate such developments with the existing tram and/or rail networks’, launching a new campaign after many years of previous failed attempts. The TTfE campaign group was formed partly in response to the significant public interest in the proposal to run tram-trains on the South Sub developed by Heriot-Watt University students in early 2025.
TTfE notes that the Council highlights major benefits from the tram project – addressing poor public transport in relatively deprived areas of SE Edinburgh, and the economic development potential from the trams project – notably the Bioquarter scheme that aims to provide thousands of new jobs. However, the South Sub project would equally target both those objectives – better public transport for SE Edinburgh and connectivity to the Bioquarter.
Rob Falcon, Chair of Tram Trains for Edinburgh, said:
“We welcome the Council’s recognition that the next steps for both the tram extension and the South Sub are ‘complementary’ business cases, but the reality is that the schemes themselves are complementary and need to be taken forward together, as an ambitious plan to radically improve public transport across the Lothian region.
“2 + 2 really does make 5 – we need both lines to provide multiple journey options from a hub at Cameron Toll.”
The council’s proposed Strategic Business Case will provide an opportunity to examine the costs, benefits, potential routes and deliverability of the southern tram extension before any decision on construction is made.
The latest developments come as the future of Edinburgh’s wider tram network remains the subject of debate, with the Roseburn Path route continuing to attract significant opposition and alternative proposals being considered.
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