Ding, ding!

Edinburgh's new tram system opened yesterday, £375 million over budget and three years late.The new trams bear little resemblance to those double-decker beauties I rode in the fifties. In those days there was a huge network of lines spanning the city. Today only a single route has been inaugurated, the eight mile run from the airport to York Place in the city centre. The 27 vehicles have been built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles in the Spanish Basque country. Most of the lovely double-deckers, over 250 units, came from the Shrubhill Works of the Edinburgh Corporation Tramways company.