The Edinburgh Trams are a little like Marmite; you either love them or you hate them. But for the majority of the British public, it seems to be the latter. They have taken the taxes of hard-working civilians and rather than spending them on hospitals or schools, the government has decided on wasting it on something we neither want nor need.
But now there is talk in the news that the trams are to be running a better time schedule and a glimmer of hope rests with us all. Regardless of our opinion on trams, we want them to succeed. It has taken too much time and energy – from everyone - for it not to. And whether the trams have been in our lives as a disruptive force or a blessing in disguise, it is time for us to move on and get on with our day-to-day existence.
They may be ineffective and far too big, but no matter how long we have dreamt and hoped for the collisions in Princes Street to end, the truth is we need them. They have been with us, stayed with us and grown with us. They’ve been there, in all our ups and downs.
The trams are there for us as an excuse, and although not everyone may want to admit it, we use it. Late for school? “Diversion, Miss.” Missed a meeting? “Stupid tram works!” Stood someone up? “Terrible traffic!” They are an excuse: when something goes wrong in our lives, we have something to blame it on, we use trams. So in reality, we have grown used to the chaos and disruption and used it to our benefit.
Soon enough, we’ll replace trams with something else, because that is what we do. But that will not take away our memories of the lump of construction we have grown to know and love.
To finish off on a positive note, I am glad we will get to use them soon. Trams symbolize not only us Scots but the whole of Britain. ‘We may be late, but we’ll get you there.’ And the trams will get us there. All we can do is hope and pray that the council doesn’t raise the tram fare to replace the roughly 776 million spent on them.
I may not be a very religious person but this I shall pray for!
Amen.
