Princes Street Gardens Cutting
Location type
PlaceName and dates
Princes Street Gardens Cutting (1846-)Opened on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
Description
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was extended east from Haymarket through Haymarket Tunnels to what is now Edinburgh Waverley station through Princes Street Gardens and the Mound Tunnels under The Mound in 1846.
A 'Princes Street Gardens' signal box split the section between Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley. It was located on the north side of the line. This closed in 1892.
In 1895, five years after the Forth Bridge opened, the line was quadrupled to handle the additional traffic. The new lines were laid to the south of the existing railway A new larger signal box opened. This was a little to the east of its predecessor and also on the north side of the line.
The box closed in 1936 during a re-signalling of Edinburgh Waverley. It was absorbed by Waverley West signal box, itself replaced in 1976 by Edinburgh Signalling Centre.
The railway is still four tracks wide. The present apparent signal box building is not an original box.
Local
To the north are the Princes Street Gardens
To the south is Edinburgh Castle .
Tags
Railway cutting four track
| Nearby stations Princes Street [Tram] Edinburgh Princes Street Lothian Road Princes Street [1st] St Andrew Square [Tram] West End - Princes Street [Tram] Edinburgh Waverley York Place [Tram] Haymarket Haymarket [Tram] Picardy Place [Tram] Scotland Street Dalry Road St Leonards McDonald Road [Tram] | The Mound [Tram] Mound Tunnels Lothian Road Goods Lothian Road Shed Haymarket Tunnels Tourist/other Princes Street Gardens Edinburgh Castle Scottish National Gallery Camera Obscura Gladstone^s Land Georgian House Charlotte Square Scott Monument St Giles Cathedral Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Balmoral Hotel |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
Power MagazineWhen a railway through Princes Street Gardens was first proposed one of the arguments against the route was that sparks could ignite the powder magazine at Edinburgh Castle above the line. |
