Princes Street will close for six months next year while Edinburgh's tram tracks are laid, Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (Tie) have confirmed.

Bilfinger Berger Siemens (BBS) will start the tram infrastructure work on June 1 2009.

Line 1a which will run from Newhaven to Edinburgh Airport will have 18km of track, nine substations to power the trams, 22 tram stops and a depot at Gogar.

Phase 1b which Tie has announced commitment to will run from Haymarket to Granton for 6km. There will be three sub stations and nine tram stops.

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A spokesperson for Princes Street Traders Association, said retailers had been aware of a possible closure and had expressed concern about how deliveries would be made to major stores on Princes Street without loading bays.

Hundreds of buses a day will be forced to use an alternative route along George Street.

However The Scotsman newspaper have vocalised their support for the decision stating a preference for one lengthly period rather than a series of shorter closures over several years.

Willie Gallagher, Chairman of Tie, said: "We are at the cusp of delivering what we have promised - a world class public transport system in our capital.

"We have struck the correct balance between price, programme, quality of the finished product and certainty of cost in agreeing this programme.

"The start of the infrastructure work will see the nature of the construction change - with rails being installed and the trams stops built."

Overall construction is due to finish on January 2011 with trams scheduled to run by May 3 2011

(GK/JM)