Edinburgh Waverley
Location type
Major stationNames and dates
North Bridge (1846-1866)Edinburgh Waverley (1866-)
Station code: EDB National Rail ScotRail
Where: City of Edinburgh, Scotland
Opened on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
Opened on the North British Railway.
Opened on the Borders Railway (Network Rail).
Open on the North Berwick Line.
Open on the Fife Circle.
Open on the Edinburgh to Perth.
Open on the Edinburgh to Dundee.
Open on the Carlisle to Edinburgh.
Open on the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts.
Open on the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Bathgate and Airdrie.
Open on the Edinburgh to Berwick.
Description
This is the main station in Edinburgh and acts as both a terminus and through station. The larger part of the station is covered by a large glazed roof by Blyth and Cunningham and is an island platform with bays at either end. There is a smaller island platform outwith the main roof on the south side.
Services operate to every Scottish city and many long distance services to destinations in England.
Given the city location, the original construction of the station and its subsequent expansions has required purchase and demolition of many buildings (for example the Edinburgh Orphan^s Hospital was demolished in 1845 to make space). Even the former Canal Street was subsumed into the station expansion.
The out of use Waverley West box, on the south side of the line, is ^B^ listed.
There are tram stops nearby. Princes Street [Tram] is to the north west and St Andrew Square [Tram] to the north.
The station opened in 1846, an end-on junction between the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to the west and North British Railway to the east. Initially there were two through platforms, five lines between the platforms. The booking office was at the west end, above the lines, on the Waverley Bridge.
To the north was Canal Street (1847) and to the north again Canal Street station. A tight curve linked the Mound Tunnels to the Scotland Street Tunnel.
To the south was the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway^s goods yard.
There was a major reconstruction in advance of, and following, the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890. The 34,000 square metres roof was added in 1897. The railway west to Saughton Junction and east to Portobello East Junction was progressively quadrupled.
Local
The North British Station Hotel was built to the north of the station, towering over it. It was sold by the British Transport Hotels in 1981. It is now the Balmoral Hotel , leading to the north side of the station being known as the Balmoral side.
The Scott Monument , commemorating Sir Walter Scott, is to the north of the station on Princes Street.
The Scottish National Gallery is on The Mount to the west of the station.
Edinburgh Castle is less than half a mile to the south west of the station.
Tags
Station terminus KlondykeAliases
Waverley Edinburgh Edinburgh GeneralExternal links
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map
Facilities
Gaelic name: Waverley Dhun EideannListing: A
| Nearby stations Princes Street [1st] St Andrew Square [Tram] York Place [Tram] Princes Street [Tram] Scotland Street Edinburgh Princes Street Leith Walk Lothian Road St Leonards Abbeyhill Easter Road Shandwick Place [Tram] Powderhall Pilrig Street Haymarket | Waterloo Place [Tram] Waterloo Place Edinburgh Signalling Centre Edinburgh Waverley Goods Mound Tunnels The Mound [Tram] Scotland Street Tunnel Tourist/other The Balmoral Hotel Scott Monument St Giles Cathedral Gladstone^s Land Scottish National Gallery Calton Hill Camera Obscura National Museum of Scotland |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
Station wallsThe station was rebuilt in the 1890s. The station roof is supported on the north side by the Balmoral Wall, named for The Balmoral Hotel to the north. The south wall is the Klondyke Wall, named for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-1899. Early photographsAn early photograph by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson of demolition before the station^s construction exists. National Galleries - Trinity College Chapel and Hospital, with Calton Hill in the background A similar view by George Washington Wilson shows the station once open. National Galleries - Calton Hill, Edinburgh A view by Ross and Thomson shows the station from the west. National Galleries - Edinburgh from the Castle |
Dates
Books
