Edinburgh Waverley railway station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; ) is the principal station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the northern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, from , although some trains operated by London North Eastern Railway continue to other Scottish destinations beyond Edinburgh.
Services to and from Edinburgh Waverley are primarily operated by Abellio ScotRail, including five routes to Glasgow, the Fife Circle, the recently reopened Borders Railway and services to Stirling/Dunblane/Alloa/North Berwick/Dunbar. The station is the terminus of the Edinburgh leg of the West Coast Main Line
and East Coast Main Line served by Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express. Long distance inter-city trains are operated by CrossCountry to destinations such as , , , , , , , and .
Location.
Waverley station is situated in a steep, narrow valley between the medieval Old Town and the 18th century New Town.
Princes Street, the premier shopping street, runs close to its north side. The valley is bridged by the North Bridge, rebuilt in 1897 as a three-span iron and steel bridge, on huge sandstone piers. This passes high above the station's central section, directly over the central booking hall (which cleverly hides one of the main stone piers within its bulk). Waverley Bridge lies to the west side of the station (though platforms extend below it) and it is this road which, by means of ramps, formerly afforded vehicular access to the station and still provides two of the six pedestrian entrances to the station. The valley to the west, formerly the site of the Nor Loch, is the public parkland of Princes Street Gardens.
Previous stations.
Edinburgh's Old Town, perched on a steep-sided sloping ridge, was bounded on the north by a valley in which the Nor Loch had been formed. In the 1750s overcrowding led to proposals to link across this valley to allow development to the north. The "noxious lake" was to be narrowed into "a canal of running water", with a bridge formed across the east end of the loch adjacent to the physic garden. This link was built from 1766 as the North Bridge and at the same time plans for the New Town began development to the north, with Princes Street to get unobstructed views south over sloping gardens and the proposed canal. The loch was drained as work on the bridge proceeded. In 1770 a coachbuilder began work on properties feued at the corner between the bridge and Princes Street, and feuers on the other side of the street strongly objected to this construction blocking their views to the south. A series of court cases ended with the decision that the buildings nearing completion could stay, immediately to the west of that some workshops would be allowed below the level of Princes Street, and further west a park would be "kept and preserved in perpetuity as pleasure ground" in what became Princes Street Gardens.
In the mid 1830s proposals for a railway from Glasgow running along the gardens to a station at the North Bridge were set out in a prospectus with assurances that the trains would be concealed from view, and smoke from them "would scarcely be seen". An association of "Princes Street Proprietors" who had feued houses in the street, and had spent large sums turning the "filthy and offensive bog" of the Nor Loch into quiet gardens, strongly opposed the railway and in late 1836 put forward their case against the Act of Parliament for the railway. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened in 1842 with its terminus at Haymarket railway station, stopping short of Princes Street. In the Railway Mania of the 1840s, the railway sought another Act of Parliament allowing access along the gardens, and at the same time two other railways proposed terminus stations at the North Bridge site. By then several of the Princes Street properties were shops or hotels with an interest in development, and agreement was reached in 1844 on walls and embankments to conceal the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway line in a cutting, with compensation of almost £2,000 for the proprietors.
The North Bridge station was opened on 22 June 1846 by the North British Railway as the terminus for its line from Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway's General station opened on 17 May 1847, on the same day as the Canal Street station of the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, serving Leith and Granton via a long rope-hauled tunnel under the New Town. The collective name "Waverley", after the Waverley Novels by Sir Walter Scott, was used for the three from around 1854 when the through 'Waverley' route to Carlisle opened. Canal Street station was also known as Edinburgh Princes Street, not to be confused with the Caledonian Railway railway station later built at the West End which was named Princes Street station from 1870.
The present Waverley station.
In 1868 the North British Railway acquired the stations of its rivals, demolished all three, and closed the Scotland Street tunnel to Canal Street. The present Victorian station was built on the site. Along the tracks of this first station Hanna, Donald & Wilson built some very impressive roofs. The station was extended in the late 19th century. In 1897 the impressive glass dome was added. Waverley has been in continual use since, under the auspices of the North British, the LNER, British Railways (rebranded as British Rail after 1965), Railtrack and latterly Network Rail. From its opening in its current form by the eastward tunnelled extension from Haymarket, Waverley has been the principal railway station in Edinburgh. From 1870 to 1965 the city had a second major station, Princes Street, operated by the rival Caledonian Railway, but this was never as important as Waverley.
British Rail brought railway electrification in 1991 with electric trains on the East Coast Main Line to Glasgow Central and via York to London King's Cross.
The station's large size and the unusual topography of its surroundings mean that it contains a large amount of valuable, centrally located land. The station's successive owners, British Rail, Railtrack and its current owner Network Rail have been criticised for underusing the valuable city-centre spaces available within, there being a legal covenant preventing any upwards extension, which would obstruct the view of Arthur's Seat from Princes Street. The elevated walkway linking the Waverley Steps (from Princes Street to Market Street) has been upgraded with the recommissioning of the suburban platforms (at the south) and provision of additional through platforms to the north to serve the increased proportion of through rail traffic.
During 2006 and 2007 parts of Waverley were extensively refurbished, including two new through platforms and the electrification of Platforms 12 to 18 in preparation for electric trains from the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link and future lines in Scotland to be electrified by the EGIP (Edinburgh/Glasgow Improvement Project).
From 2010 to 2012, the glazing of the roof of Waverley station was entirely replaced with new strengthened clear glass panels, replacing the old of mixed surfaces including felt, cloudy wired glass and plastic sheet. Part of a £130 million upgrade, this has greatly increased the amount of natural light in the station.
Recent developments.
From 2012 to 2014 improvements included: a new set of covered escalators at Waverley Steps leading to Princes Street (narrowing the huge set of previously open-air steps); a rebuilt and widened entrance from Market Street; a rebuilding of the canopies on the southern "suburban line"; a restoration of the central space in the ticket hall; and major improvements to the Calton Road access. Internally several new lifts and escalators have greatly aided circulation.
A new drop-off point and disabled parking/access was added on the Calton Road access in 2014.
In mid-2017, as part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, platform 12 was extended. At the same time the former Motorail bay platforms were extended into a former car park area and taxi rank to allow platforms 5 and 6 to be extended to accommodate additional London North Eastern Railway services. Platforms 5 and 6 were brought into use on 28 February 2019.
Work began in 2020 to reopen a corridor from the ticket office to the eastern concourse. This will also see the toilets replaced and a Changing Places facility installed.
Adjacent buildings.
As at other large railway stations of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the railway company constructed a grand station hotel beside their station. The North British Hotel, adjacent to the station at the corner between Princes Street and North Bridge (on the site of the coachworks) opened in 1902. In 1983 British Rail sold it to the Forte hotel group. In 1988 Forte closed the hotel for a year to extensively remodel and update what had become something of a faded jewel. When it reopened it was rechristened The New Balmoral Hotel, maintaining the "NB" initials in what has proved to be an astute marketing move, despite the hotel being from Balmoral Castle. Subsequently, "New" was dropped from the name. The hotel enjoys commanding views over central Edinburgh and is one of the most luxurious (and expensive) hotels in the UK. There is no longer a direct entrance from the station.
Waverley Mall is a shopping centre which occupies the space between Waverley Station, Waverley Bridge, Princes Street and the Balmoral hotel. It was formerly known as Waverley Market, Waverley Shopping Centre, and Princes Mall, and opened in 1985. The mall has benefited from the installation of escalators on the Waverley Steps to Princes Street in 2011. From 1844 to 1938 the site was home to a fruit and vegetable market, which got an iron roof in the 1870s.
Services.
Future services.
In May 2016 ORR gave the green light to a new operator called East Coast Trains which would operate services to Edinburgh Waverley via Stevenage, Newcastle & Morpeth. The service would begin operation in 2021.
Layout.
The main station facilities are located in the middle of what is essentially a large island platform which is surrounded by platforms on all four sides. There are 20 numbered platforms. There are three pairs of platforms which share the same tracks.
Past layout.
A total of 24 platforms have existed at Waverley, but not more than 21 at any one time. Prior to incremental rationalisation of the east end in the 1960s–80s there were 21 platforms.
The east end terminating platforms have undergone significant rationalisation. From north to south these comprised:
The former Down Main through Platforms 7 (east end) and 8 (west end) are at the south side of the main station, and comprise a single very long platform with a crossover in the centre. They are numbered 7 (formerly 10, east end) and 11 (west end).
At the west end there has been little change to the terminating platforms, apart from widening them by removing disused centre-road tracks. The platforms comprise (south-north) numbers 12/13, 14/15, 16/17 and bay Platform 18. These were not affected by the 2006 platform renumbering scheme.
The only platforms outwith Waverley's overall roof are the former 'Suburban' Platforms 8 and 9 (formerly 21 and 20), a lengthy island platform. These are on the southern edge of the station, adjacent to the east to the former freight depot (now a car park and offices) and with direct access to Market Street, which runs parallel to the railway to the immediate south.
A need to increase capacity for through and west-end traffic led to three new platforms being built in 2006, on land formerly occupied by disused sidings and bypass lines within the main part of the station. Platform 10 is a through platform at the west end, facing Platform 11. Platforms 1 and 20 are a single long through platform facing Platforms 2 and 19. All are linked by the upgraded north–south overhead walkway linking the Waverley Steps (escalators) to Market Street.
In December 2006, a partial renumbering of platforms took place to reflect the construction of the new platforms.
Future developments.
In March 2019, Network Rail announced proposals to redevelop Waverley station in order to meet an anticipated increase in passenger demand by 2048. The Waverley Masterplan drawn up by engineering firm Arup Group envisages the creation of a new mezzanine level concourse above the main platforms to facilitate passenger circulation within the station, with a link through to the neighbouring Waverley Mall shopping centre. As part of the redevelopment, the entrance ramps from Waverley Bridge into the station would be removed and the new concourse would be enclosed in plate glass to provide panoramic views over the Old Town. The plans also make reference to a "transport hub", although an interchange with Edinburgh Trams is not specified.