Today on Discontent, we’re proud to bring you a special feature with Norrie Rowan — former Scotland prop, Edinburgh stalwart, and outspoken local voice on the state of the capital’s transport priorities.
Rowan takes aim at the city’s renewed tram obsession — questioning the logic, the cost, and the council’s refusal to back the transport system that actually works. Speaking with the blunt clarity of someone who’s lived here all his life, he asks why a city already carrying the scars of a billion-pound overrun would pour billions more into a network that still runs at a loss, never met its original promises, and now threatens to carve up roads and disrupt historic buildings once again.
Watch the video below, hear his views, and ask yourself: when the capital is asked to pick a tram route, is it really the council and developers - who stand to make billions - doing the choosing, while the public picks up the cost?
Coming Soon: The Alternatives Edinburgh Ignores
Our next feature will explore the choices the city keeps dodging — from expanding Lothian Buses and investing in segregated corridors, to rethinking how Edinburgh funds and governs its public transport.
If trams aren’t the answer, what would a system built for Edinburgh’s real needs look like?
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