Designer named for next steps of Edinburgh Waverley revamp

Network Rail has awarded consultancy firm Mott MacDonald a £900,000 contract to take forward designs for the transformation of Edinburgh Waverley station.

The Edinburgh Waverley masterplan includes measures to improve access to the station by both upgrading the current entrances and providing new ones.

The firm will now work on concept designs which have been developed as part of a masterplan to improve the station to take account of expected passenger growth and support the capital’s economy.

The designs for transforming the capital’s main station were revealed in August and include features such as a new mezzanine level that will provide better access, improved entrances, increased concourse space for passengers and extended platforms.

Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway which includes ScotRail and Network Rail Scotland, said: “Our city stations, and the economies they support, will be key to how the country recovers from the impact of Covid-19 and nowhere more so than in our Capital.

“As restrictions ease and people begin to move around the country again, designing a station that works for the city, both now and in the future, is an important step to creating a modern, vibrant transport hub that will attract people to the railway and provide a distinctive and fitting gateway for people arriving into Edinburgh.”

Karen Keast of Mott MacDonald in Edinburgh said it was a high-profile project to work on.

“Edinburgh Waverley is an iconic part of the City’s heritage sitting as it does in a world class urban and architectural environment. Celebrating and valuing this heritage will be central to our thinking but looking to the future and recognising the opportunities it holds will help define the station for the future.”

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