The history of Edinburgh Waverley station

Britain's second largest railway station

Edinburgh Waverley sits in a prominent position between the Old and New Town and was the flagship station for the North British Railway when it first opened. Since then, it has gone through redesign and redevelopment to make it a station fit for the Scottish capital and Britain’s second largest station.

The First Station

The current Edinburgh Waverly Station opened in 1868. Originally there were three stations built in the 1840s to serve the city. North Bridge station, the terminus of the North British Railway from Berwick-upon-Tweed opened in 1846, General Station, the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway’s station opened in 1847 the same day as the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway’s Canal Street Station. From 1854 these three stations were collectively known as ‘Waverley’, named after the Sir Walter Scott Waverley Novels.

The Second Station

到1868年，北方英国铁路吸收了一般和运河街站，并拆除了所有三个，以在目前的位置建造该站。显而易见的是，车站及其轨道安排不充分。Caledonian Railway在同年开设了中餐线，增加了格拉斯哥和爱丁堡之间的交通，此外，东北铁路开始从约克到爱丁堡的跑火车，但他们受到Waverley拥堵和住宿的挫败感。计划于1869年开始扩大车站，但直到1873年才意识到。涉及通过北桥从Waverley Bridge向西扩展到西方的计划，以便它可以应对额外的交通。该延期进行了开放的速度，这包括来自Waverley Bridge，一座新屋顶，一家两层预订办公室，新商品棚，第一和二等候车室和茶点设施的新入口。新的山脊和沟槽系统屋顶设计成尽可能低，以免打扰城市的历史天际线。

第三站

Dissatisfaction with the North British Railway and Waverley station hit its peak in 1890. Increase in traffic from the opening of the Edinburgh Suburban Railway in 1884, the second Tay Bridge in 1887 and the Forth Bridge in 1890 forced the company to expand the station. It was said that, despite the engineering achievement of the Forth Bridge which would create a faster and more direct route to Edinburgh, the feat would be negated by the fact that Waverley and the lines around it could not cope with the extra traffic. The North British Railway received powers to rebuild the station in 1891 and work began in 1892 engineered by Blyth & Westland.

The reconstruction was a monumental undertaking covering 23 acres. Two acres of ground were taken in the East and West Princes Street Gardens to improve the flow of traffic against much local opposition. The old North Bridge was reconstructed – changing the layout of the track so that it didn’t have to squeeze through two of the twelve arches of the old bridge, instead it would be opened-up into a new three arch iron bridge. Waverley Bridge, despite only being opened in 1873, was also reconstructed. Extra tunnels at Haymarket, the Mound and Carlton hill had to be built, came into use in 1895 and officially opened in 1896. The works of the 1890s made Waverly the largest station in Britain until Waterloo Station was reopened in 1921.

First World War

在1914年第一次世界大战的突破，在Waverley建立了第一个'部队自助餐'。到1919年，在车站的人员服务于超过200万餐。还有一个红十字会病房，以帮助病人或受伤。虽然爱丁堡的Zeppelins有空袭，但Waverley永远不会击中。1922年，一名战争纪念纪念纪念迷路的775英国铁路。

白球岁月

In 1921 the Railways Act amalgamated independent railway companies together to create the ‘Big Four’. In this grouping the North British Railway joined the London and North Eastern Railway. Very little improvement was made to Waverley in the interwar years. New colour light signalling was installed in the 1930s and Waverley West signal box was built in 1936 with Waverley East following in 1938.

Second World War

第二次世界大战爆发时在9月1日939, Waverley was the focus for evacuating children to more rural areas – in three days over 178,000 children had been evacuated on trains leaving the station. Much like the First World War, a free canteen was established for servicemen. An emergency headquarters for LNER was also set up in Scotland Street Tunnel to ensure continuation of service should Waverley be seriously damaged. Unlike most stations during the war, Edinburgh retained its glass, mainly because there was too much of it to remove and it was dirty enough to block any stray lighting beneath. When the war ended in 1945 the railways were rundown and so, at Christmas, Waverley became the first Scottish station to install a Christmas tree to raise spirits.

Nationalisation and Modernisation

The station passed into the hands of the Scotland Region for British Railways when the railways were nationalised in 1948. Through the Beeching Cuts freight services were ceased from Waverley and the goods yard was paved and turned into a car park, Princes Street, Edinburgh’s other railway terminus, closed in 1965 and the Waverley Route was closed in 1969. The Commonwealth Games of 1970 were held in Edinburgh. This prompted a modernisation of Waverley by replacing many of the original features, like the oak panelling, decorative friezes, the octagonal booking office and the mosaic floor. It was judged unsympathetic at the time.

In the late 1970s a new signal box was built on the southern side of the goods yard making the existing signal boxes redundant. In the 1980s more improvements were made –打开了一个餐饮服务大楼，船员运营办公室，英国运输警察局，几个零售店和新的现代信号中心.

私有化

1991年爱丁堡威弗利被授予“A”清单status by Historic Scotland. This meant that any work to be carried out at the station required listed building consent to protect its heritage and architecture. In 1994 the railway was privatised, and track and train were separated. Railtrack PLC took over the infrastructure including Waverley station and a regeneration program began. By 2004 Railtrack had been taken over by Network Rail and a series of projects were undertaken to refurbish the station.

These refurbishments included a new control centre attached to the 1970s signal box, re-aligning of the tracks to the western approach and lengthening of the platforms and replacement of the canopies. Between 2006 and 2007 platforms 12 to 18 were electrified in preparation for the opening of the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail link in 2010. Between 2010 and 2012 the glazing in the roof was replaced and strengthened as part of a £130 million upgrade. As part of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) platform 12 was extended. Platforms 5 and 6 were extended into the former taxi rank in 2017 allowing more services for London North Eastern Railway and brought into use in 2019.

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