Cyclists paid £1.2m in Edinburgh tram line compensation

More than £1.2m has been paid out to cyclists who have fallen off their bike on Edinburgh's tram line.

New data shows a total of 196 successful claims have been made against Edinburgh City Council since 2012 by cyclists who sustained injuries or damage to their bike after slipping on tracks or getting wheels stuck.

In total there have been 422 accidents involving cyclists on tram tracks.

The vast majority of these occurred on Princes Street and around Haymarket.

Edinburgh City Council said it had made a series of safety improvements for cyclists crossing the tram lines in recent years.

But campaigners say these have come "slowly and too late".

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In 2017 a cyclist died after her wheel became stuck in tram tracks and she fell into the path of a minibus in Princes Street.

And in 2019 two cyclists won damages in a test civil legal case after they were thrown from their bikes while crossing tram tracks.

Prof Chris Oliver, of the Spokes Lothian Cycle Campaign, said: "I'm not unsurprised that trams system related cycling injuries continue.

"Spokes originally advised prior to the construction of the Edinburgh Tram line that the infrastructure should be protected and that cyclists should not be freely mixed with trams. An expert even came over to advise but the advice was not heeded.

"There have been some recent improvements but these have come slowly and too late. I'm sure there will be continual waves of litigation from injured cyclists."

Improvements made

Data released under freedom of information laws shows that since 2012 - two years before the trams were first operating - a total of £1,262,141 in damages has been paid out by Edinburgh City Council.

Edinburgh's transport convener Scott Arthur said: "It is important to note that some of these claims pre-date the opening of the line and the many safety improvements made since then.

"Nonetheless, the number of claims submitted is concerning to me. I am committed to ensuring the safety of all road users, and I know that over the last five years the council has been working on a phased package of improvements to cycle safety along the tram route.

"The council is now in the process of completing phase three of the project, which includes significant changes to the road layouts at six junctions to give greater priority to people on bikes."

He went on to voice his dismay that more safety improvements had not been made at the junction where medical student Zhi Min Soh, 23, died in 2017.

Mr Arthur told the BBC: "It really disappoints me that five years after the death of that Edinburgh University student we've still not got those fixes in place for that junction. "It is something I have been prioritising since becoming transport convener."

Safety changes made in recent years have included new red-surfaced cycle lanes at key points along the tram route to direct cyclists on the safest route to cross the tram tracks to avoid getting their wheels stuck.

From Local Democracy Reporter Donald Turvill