| Edinburgh Princes Street | |
|---|---|
| The Caledonian Hotel is the main surviving part of the former station complex | |
| Location | |
| Place | Edinburgh |
| Area | Edinburgh |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Caledonian Railway |
| Post-grouping | LMS |
| Platforms | 7 |
| History | |
| 2 May 1870 | Temporary wooden station opened |
| 1890 | Partly destroyed by fire & building work on permanent station started |
| 1893 | Permanent station brought into use |
| 1903 | Hotel added |
| 6 September 1965 | Station closed |
| Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom | |
| Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z |
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Princes Street Station was a mainline railway station which stood at the west end of Princes Street, in Edinburgh, Scotland, for almost 100 years. A temporary station was opened in 1870, with construction of the main station commencing in the 1890s. The station was closed completely in 1965 and largely demolished in 1970. Only its hotel remains, but it is no longer in railway ownership.
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The Caledonian Railway company's main line reached Edinburgh, and was ceremonially opened on 15 February 1848.[1] Its initial Edinburgh terminus was located at Lothian Road.[1][2] The track was extended slightly and the temporary Lothian Road station, opened in 1848, was replaced in 1870 by another temporary station in Princes Street.[1][2]
The 1870 temporary Princes Street station was rebuilt, between 1890 and 1893 to become a grand station with seven platforms and an 850 ft long bayed roof.
The Caledonian Hotel, a grand railway hotel, was eventually built above the main entrance of the station and opened, after some construction delays, in 1903. It was built in red sandstone from the west of Scotland and designed in the style of many Glasgow buildings, leading it to be sometimes deemed "a grand old Glasgow lady come to Edinburgh". At the time of its construction it was much criticised for obstructing the view of the spires of St Marys Cathedral on Palmerston Place, which were previously visible from Princes Street Gardens.
The mainline to London, via Carstairs, headed southwest from the station, which was later augmented with a number of suburban stops, Merchiston, Slateford, and Kingsnowe, 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.
After nationalisation of the railways in 1948, it was considered logical to concentrate all rail services in Edinburgh on one station. With Waverley Station a short distance along Princes Street beyond Princes Street Gardens, by the 1960s Princes Street Station was seen as surplus to requirements. Although its street-level entrance was rather more convenient for travellers than that of Waverley (which is in a deep cutting and requires a steep climb to reach street level), the latter was much larger, more conveniently located within the city, and (crucially) had access to the East Coast Main Line. After closure of Princes Street, the west end of the city centre would continue to be served by nearby Haymarket Station.
Local services were gradually withdrawn, starting with those to Balerno in 1943, followed by those to Barnton in 1951, Leith North in 1962, and stopping trains on the main line to Carstairs in 1964. The remaining services to Glasgow Central, Stirling and English cities were then diverted to Waverley, allowing Princes Street Station to be closed in September 1965. [2] The station was demolished in 1970, with the Western Approach Road being built along the track bed in the early 1970s. However, the Caledonian Hotel still operates on the site and has been renamed the Caledonian Hilton. Part of the station space still remains within it and the grand entrance arch is still visible at the side of the hotel. The former Parcels Office lingered, on Lothian Road between the hotel and the Western Approach Road, until a major office development was constructed on its site in the 1990s.
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Caledonian Railway |
Merchiston Line and station closed |
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| Terminus | Caledonian Railway Granton Branch |
Dalry Road Line and station closed |
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| Terminus | CR and NBR Dalry Road Lines |
Dalry Road Lines to westbound Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Line closed |
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