Edinburgh Bus Station

Edinburgh Bus Station
Location	Elder Street, Edinburgh Scotland
Coordinates	55°57′20″N 3°11′30″W / 55.9555°N 3.1917°W / 55.9555; -3.1917Coordinates: 55°57′20″N 3°11′30″W / 55.9555°N 3.1917°W / 55.9555; -3.1917
Bus stands	18
Bus operators	First Edinburgh Stagecoach Fife Scottish Citylink Perryman's Buses Megabus Prentice Westwood
Connections	Edinburgh Waverley (200 metres [220 yd])
History
Opened	February 2003
Location
Edinburgh Bus Station Location within Edinburgh city centre

Edinburgh Bus Station (previously St. Andrew Square Bus Station) is the bus station serving central Edinburgh which opened in its present form in February 2003.^[1]

It is located on Elder Street where the buses enter, with pedestrian access at Elder Street and St. Andrew Square. Buses and coaches serve Glasgow, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Fife. National Express also serves this station to destinations in England and Wales. The Bus Station along with the adjacent Multrees Walk development, including Harvey Nichols and a host of other high end retailers was designed by the Edinburgh office of the architectural firm CDA.

From May 2014, the bus station will be served by the adjacent St Andrew Square tram stop of Edinburgh Trams, giving a direct connection to/from Edinburgh Airport.

History

St. Andrew Square bus station opened in April 1957 by the former SMT company, with 16 stances over 5 platforms with underground subways connecting the platforms. By the late 1960s an office block was built on the air space above the station, with the building supports ate into the platforms thus reducing the space. The Station closed on 2 July 2000 as part of developments of the site, which included a new bus station and Scotland's first Harvey Nichols store.^[2]

During its reconstruction a number of issues appeared, including a number of bus operator complaining the departure fees were too high and planning not to transfer services back into the bus station.^[3] Plans appeared which could have seen the bus station moved within fours years to a new redevelopment at Waverley. In a report to councilors, the director of city development, Andrew Holmes, said: "With the delivery of this project now a firm prospect in the next few years, there are potentially opportunities for accommodating integrated facilities for strategic bus services."^[4]

The upgraded bus station opened in February 2003 with a more modern facility, 4 months late. The new station, was built and is owned by Coal Pension Properties as part of the redeveloped site, with Edinburgh City council leasing the bus station.^[5] within days of the opening bus drivers were complaining the ramp into the station was too steep and was catching the bottom of their vehicles. The problem was resolved within a week with minor changed were made to the ramp.

Since the station reopened a number of major issues have arisen. In 2003 faulty ceiling tiles had to be replaced to ensure there did not fall on passers-by.^[6] In 2007 roof planes shut the bus station after there become detached from the roof, which happened again in May 2011 during high winds. In 2007 the office above the station were flooded which resulted in the ceiling collapsing and needing supported up for nearly three years

Finally in 2011, Edinburgh city council took Balfour Beatty to court over their claims of poor workmanship in connection to the bus station due to the emergency work needing to be carried out. One city council said: "A new facility like this should have been much sturdier, even in bad weather... The council only leases the bus station, but has had to pay to carry out repairs to ensure it is safe enough to open up for passengers. The final designs and work have simply not been up to scratch.^[5]

References

External links

• Edinburgh Bus Station