Waverley Steps: Walk this way for Edinburgh’s new rail gateway
The glass roof will offer some protection from the elements. Picture: Jane Barlow
THE train may take the strain, but getting to the station has been a daunting struggle for generations of Edinburgh passengers.
The Waverley Steps, the notorious principal entrance to the capital’s railway hub, provided a 72-step nightmare – especially in the wind and rain.
However, weary travellers will heave a sigh of relief on Monday when they are able to glide up to Princes Street on escalators under a glass roof for the first time in 145 years.
The year-long construction is being completed on time, albeit five years after it should have originally been finished because of delays caused by objections to the scheme.
However, station owner Network Rail also warned that the new roof, which is supported by six tree-like pillars, would not remove the steps’ wind-tunnel effect completely.
The Scotsman was given exclusive access yesterday as workers put the finishing touches to the £7 million project.
The first section, between Waverley station and the lower entrance to the Princes Mall shopping centre, will open tomorrow, ahead of the full opening in time for Monday’s morning rush-hour.
The staggered opening is to maintain a link to the mall from the station, while a temporary bridge which currently provides access will be removed at the weekend.
The rebuilt steps have been narrowed to just over half their width, with three banks of adjacent escalators providing a new option for the 40ft ascent.
The steps have been remodelled into eight shorter flights from the previous five, with a central handrail added. Before the refurbishment some 14,000 people a day took the steps – 40 per cent of station users – a figure which is now expected to increase.
In a separate part of the project, to be completed in July, two 16-person lifts will take passengers between the station and mall roof, with a ramp up to Princes Street. The lifts have been re-sited away from the steps following an objection from the Balmoral Hotel over their impact on views of Edinburgh Castle.
A spokeswoman for the hotel said the completed scheme would not restrict views from its rooms or function suites.
She said: “We are pleased that the Waverley Steps are set to re-open, marking the end of a project which will undoubtedly bring improved access to the station for Edinburgh’s visitors and locals.”
The reopening was also applauded by the city council and heritage groups.
Gordon Mackenzie, the council’s transport leader, said: “The completion of the steps is a key milestone in a programme of works that will see Waverley station transformed into a modern facility, whilst still keeping true to its Victorian heritage.
“This long-awaited revamp of the station will keep Edinburgh at the centre of rail travel in the UK for years to come.”
David Simpson, Network Rail’s route managing director for Scotland, said: “The new steps will vastly improve access to the station for passengers, especially less-mobile travellers.
“The refurbishment has delivered a modern gateway to one of the country’s oldest stations which is also sensitive to the heritage and history of the building and those around it.”
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Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Comments
There are 45 comments to this article
Page 1 of 3
Jolly
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 10:54 AMPending Moderation
regalzone
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 09:37 AMAnd thats why i moved from edin to Glasgow along with other folks who are deserting the place.
Canton-eze
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 07:00 PMI'll reserve judgement for my next trip to Edinburgh. Last trip was the end of last summer and the wettest and windiest day I can remember in the city. Thinking I'd get a taxi easily from the steps wasn't to be. Head into the wind and soaked to the skin, I walked as far as the art galleries before a long wait for a cab going westwards. So ... tram access, as mentioned by #36?
AuldLochinvar
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 06:46 PMWhen I read about 14,000 visitors losing their exercise, I thought about the Pentland Hills, where I used to get some of mine, and the ugliness of those damned wind turbines.
MOCO
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 04:04 PM#33 - gus1940. So, for stating my point of view in a reasonable manner I am classed as an "idot" who "infests this bogroll". What was it Generalissimo Salmond was telling the English this week about Scotland being a "beacon of light and tolerance". Somehow this seems to be missing among some of his supporters.
SINGAPOREAN
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:49 PMOh, by the way - Malaysia used to be a colony but they became undependent. Is there a lesson here?
Take 5
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:49 PMVery few people will ever get the somewhat unappealing view of the canopy that the picture displays (photographer must have been on an adjacent bit of roof). From below, where us punters will see it from, it will look just fine. #36 has a point - what happens about bird doo-dah? Litter less of a concern, 'cos we surely don't expect residents of the Balmoral to be heaving Macdonalds rubbish out of their windows!
SINGAPOREAN
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:44 PMKuala Lumpur had a magnificent colonial railway station built in the same era as Waverley. when it became unfit for purpose they built a brand new station about a kilometre away. This, likewise is magnificent - a 21st century transport hub with integrated monorail asnd bus services. Meantime we struggle with a Victorian museum piece and tinker round the edges. But then, the Malaysians don't have Trident missiles.
Mario Antoinette
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:34 PMIf you want to see real investment, stunning design and architecture which suits its needs and actually helps travellers, try Berlin Hauptbanhof. Waverley Shopping Centre should have been integrated into the station itself, so you can walk from the shopping malls directly into the station on moving walkways and escalators. Like Montreal. Make it a pleasure. Make people want to shop. As usual we get some cheap barely thought out half-assed compromise.
Mario Antoinette
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:28 PMTo be fair, it looks totally half-assed. That Glass roof looks like a Grafitii Artists heaven, and will soon get gunked up with litter and bird doo-dah. Should have been completely bricked in.
jdships
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:23 PM33 gus1940 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get the chip of your shoulder -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then change the record or get a new scriptwriter
kateluke
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:19 PMThe wording of the article...for the first time in 145 years, implies that 145 years ago, people were able to glide up on escalators! How badly written but it's the Scotsman so why am I surprised!
gus1940
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 02:58 PM#30 Another uninformed idiot joins the Unionist brigade who infest this bogroll quite happy that we have had to wait over 100years to get reasonable access to opur Capital's main station unlike the bilions of our taxes subsidising obscene spending on transport infrastructure in SE England which just sucks in more jobs and people creating a demand for even more infrastructure spending while impovershing the rest of The UK.
e2toe4
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:41 PM#27 very much agree Aberdeen Lad...that's why the mess being made of it is so unnecessary and so much worse, because if the city's delicate 'ecology and balance' continues to be broken up heedlessly in the way it is being done at present, mainly through a completely wrong headed 'Light Rail-on-a-road' system we could reach the point at which the harm becomes irreperable.
e2toe4
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:29 PMThe new steps will carry the people from the tram to the station for their onward journies, protected from rain and having to haul heavy luggage down the steps...AFTER they have battled 500 or 600 yards along the crowded main street, disabled or otherwise, hauling their luggage through wind, rain and snow to get to the top of the said steps. ++++++ No doubt marvelling at the integrated transport system of our modern European capital ++++ This is not anti-Edinburgh but anti-the spin of councillors out of their depth,as Cllr Mackenzie has admitted himself to be. +++++++++++ The improvements in the steps ARE a good thing; an obvious problem, addressed and solved, a modest scheme, with modest aims that have been successfully acheived----- but the failure to provide a tram system that connects the city up in a meaningful way simply highlights the persistent and ongoing governance failures in the city, not mitigated in any real sense by the Waverley Steps..
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