A team of top tram drivers from Edinburgh are on track to compete with the best in Europe after being chosen to represent the city in a prestigious international competition.
Following a rigorous internal selection process, Victoria Young and Michael Jakes, alongside driver trainer Dougie White, were chosen to fly the flag for Edinburgh Trams at the 11th European Tram Driver Championship.
Now they’ll face stiff competition from across the continent when they compete at the event in Frankfurt on September 14.
The annual competition brings together the very best tram drivers to compete in a variety of challenges, with one driver and one team crowned champion. It is expected that 25 teams across 20 nations will take part this year by tackling a 200m long course comprising six challenges, including emergency break precision.
Ahead of the competition, Dougie White explained:
We’re really excited at the prospect of representing Edinburgh Trams on a global stage.
Although the environment will obviously be very different from what we are used to, at the forefront of our training is recognising hazards and making sure of the safety of the public.
This requires high levels of concentration and skill, which will come in useful when we face some more unusual challenges as part of the competition, including hitting snooker cues and inflatable balls off the tram to score points.
The team has been working hard, and our training sessions have been going well. We can’t wait to put all our skills to the test.
Make sure to keep an eye out on our social media channels in the run-up and during the competition for updates. The competition will also be livestreamed on the EM-Tram Facebook page.