Princes Street railway station

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Princes Street station is not to be confused with former North British Railway's Waverley station, located at the east end of the Princes Street Gardens.

Princes Street Station was a mainline railway station which stood at the west end of Princes Street, in Edinburgh, Scotland, for almost 100 years.

The Caledonian Railway company's main line reached Edinburgh, and was ceremonially opened on 15 February 1848.

The Caledonian Hotel, all that now remains of the station complex

The Caledonian opened a temporary station in Princes Street in 1870. It was replaced, between 1890 and 1893, by a grand station with seven platforms and an 850 ft long bayed roof. The Caledonian Hotel, a grand railway hotel, was built above the main entrance of the station and opened in 1903.

The mainline to London, via Carstairs, headed southwest from the station, which was later augmented with a number of suburban stops and a branchline to Colinton and Balerno. The Caledonian railway company later added several other suburban lines serving the north and west of the city, including Barnton, Davidson's Mains, Granton, and Leith. By contrast the North British Railway's suburban lines largely served the south and east of the city.

The station closed in 1965 and was mostly demolished in 1969, with a road being built across the track bed. However, the Caledonian Hotel still remains and has been renamed the Caledonian Hilton hotel. Part of the station space is still contained within it and the grand entrance arch is still visible at the side of the hotel. The former Parcels Office remained, between the hotel and the new road, until a major office development was constructed on its site in the 1990s.

The closure of Princes Street station left Edinburgh Waverley railway station as the main station serving the central district of Edinburgh, with Haymarket railway station a relatively short journey to the west.