Waverly Station Renewal, United Kingdom

Waverly Station is Britain's largest train station located outside London. It is located in Edinburgh between the old and modern towns of the city, adjacent to Princes Street, Edinburgh Castle and the Princes Street Gardens.

Waverly station was created in 1854 by joining North Bridge, Glasgow and Canal Street stations situated on adjacent sites. Owned and maintained by Network Rail, the station serves 14 million people a year.

The station is currently undergoing a renewal programme, which includes refurbishment and modernisation of the station facilities and platforms, and redevelopment of the station steps at Princes Street entrance. Estimated to cost £130m, the renovation will take over four years to complete.

The refurbishment of the station steps at the Princes Street entrance commenced in February 2011 and is expected to be completed by July 2012. An application to rebuild the steps was filed in 2008 under the Transport and Works (Scotland) Act 2007.

The refurbished steps will improve station access to the passengers who use these steps to reach the station platforms. It will also provide improved facilities to people with less mobility. The project is funded by Transport Scotland.

The station had undergone an infrastructure upgrade funded by Transport Scotland in 2008. The project required an investment of £150m and was intended to improve access and station capacity.

Design and construction

The original North Bridge station which opened in 1847 and later joined with Canal Street and Glasgow stations to create Waverly Station was designed by Blyth and Cunningham. It then had a transverse ridge and furrow roof of 300ft x 1,100ft.

The roof of Waverly Station was extended and rebuilt in 1900. Designed by Blyth and Westland, the extended roof measured 375ft x 1,240ft.

The 2008 infrastructure upgrade included construction of two new longer platforms, track remodelling and a new bay platform at Haymarket Station for additional train services. New signals were installed to accommodate four additional trains to pass through the station every hour. Platform 5 was reintroduced and extra platform space was created for long commuter trains.

The contract for station steps refurbishment has been awarded to Morgan Sindall and is worth £7m. The project is currently under construction will feature two sets of covered escalators and lifts. The covered escalators will provide access to Princes Mall Shopping Centre.

The two lifts will be made of glass and will be able to accommodate 16 people at a time. These lifts will provide step-free access to all the platforms via a mezzanine bridge. A glass and steel canopy will also be placed over the refurbished steps.

Services

Waverly Station has been a key station in facilitating new rail lines, such as the re-opening of the Airdrie-Bathgate.

The station is also served by trains operated by East Coast, Virgin Trains, Cross Country, First Transpennine Express and ScotRail.

Facilities

The station provides free parking up to 20 minutes for cycles and cars after which it is charged. Parking can also be booked online for short and long stay.

A travel centre in the main concourse provides ticketing and information services. Other facilities include telephones, car-hire, cash and currency exchange bureau, photo booths, Wi-Fi, toilets and baby changing rooms, lost and found counter, excess baggage counter, trolley points which provide luggage trolleys, and food, drink and shopping outlets.

A lift is available from the foot bridge to the main concourse and platforms 1, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 20.

Future developments

The renewal programme will involve replacement of 17,000 panels with transparent and strengthened glass to provide natural lighting across the concourse and station platforms. A new entrance will be created at the New Market Street to improve station accessibility.

Exterior of the main station building and the concourse will be refurbished to improve passenger facilities. Platforms 8 and 9 will be upgraded and will have new furniture and canopies.

The project will also witness repair and repaint of the original Victorian ironworks and permanent removal of unused station furniture, buildings and high-level walkways.