Edinburgh Tram System project - Essay Example

The research identifies that there were some challenges in the definition of the stakeholder needs and expectations. The priorities of the client were politicised, hence there were divergences in the ETS Project. This led to various shortfalls that resulted in major inabilities to deal with the key success factors of the research. This is a project management report that focuses on a real project that has been completed. To this end, the report will critically analyse and review a sample case, the Edinburgh Tram System Project.

This paper will critically review the ETS project as it was carried out by the members of the Edinburgh Tram Project team. The actual steps taken by the team members are analysed and reviewed in relation to two main approaches. The first is the existing literature on project management. The second relates to how other projects were conducted and how this relates to the Edinburgh Tram Project. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn on the project and recommendations will be made in relation to the project under review.

The Edinburgh Corporation Tramways was one of the earliest symbols of the Industrial Revolution and it ran between 1871 and 1956 when it was closed down (Mullay, 2013). It included a network of buses and commuter rail lines that linked the different parts of the city of Edinburgh (Edinburgh History, 2013). It marked one of the earliest projects towards massive urban transportation that was replicated in other cities of the United Kingdom. However, in 1956, it stopped operating. In 1989, new interests and proposals came up for the reintroduction of trams in the Edinburgh.

However, in 2001, the Scottish Parliament gave approval for the creation of three tram routes to run in the city of Edinburgh. This gave the impetus for the project under review, which was broken down and conducted according to the fundamental principles and ideas of project management. As identified above, the reintroduction of tramways provided