Haymarket railway station

During 1842, Haymarket railway station was opened as the original terminus of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. The station represented the launch of a new age of travelling opportunities to the Scottish capital, being the first intercity route to be built and offering a previously unheard of journey time of two and a half hours between Scotland's two largest cities.[5] Reportedly, early passenger numbers were far in excess of any expectations held during the line's construction, having topped one million by 1846. Due to backlash from the Church of Scotland, the early practice of running Sunday trains was suspended.[5]

The station building itself featured impressive Doric-style porticos and was often hailed for its impressive architecture and engineering.[5] It served not only a major transport hub for the city, but also as the headquarters of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway company itself. During 1846, the line was extended through the Haymarket tunnels and Princes Street Gardens to what is today known as Edinburgh Waverley railway station; other railway stations, which had the benefit of being more centrally sited, were also springing up around the city and some came to overshadow Haymarket Station.[5] Its name has always been just Haymarket, as opposed to Edinburgh Haymarket — although the latter designation has been used in timetables by some train operating companies for the purpose of clarity.

The connecting line to Slateford, which is presently used by services heading towards Glasgow Central railway station and the West Coast Main Line, was originally constructed during 1853 by the Caledonian Railway; however, it lay disused for more than a century due to what became a long-running disagreement over running rights with the E&GR and its successor companies - the line was finally commissioned during September 1964 by the nationalised operator British Rail; this measure allowed for the closure of the former CR terminus located at Princes Street during the following year.[6] Haymarket TMD, a service and maintenance depot, is located 0.6 miles (1 km) west of the station, on the north side of the railway, adjacent to Murrayfield Stadium.

The old station front, which is still in use as a side entrance

By the 1890s, Haymarket had lost some of its original appeal, and came to be often subject to criticism over a lack of maintenance and a perpetual climate of austerity.[5] During 1894, covered platforms were added to the station by the railway engineer James Carswell.[7] Reportedly, during the 1960s and 1970s, British Rail studied options for several new station buildings and other renovations, but ultimately did not want to invest in Haymarket in case it was soon closed.[5]

During 1983, British Rail performed some alterations to the station; Haymarket's original train shed was demolished while its footbridge was replaced by a smaller counterpart and new platform canopies were installed.[8][5] As a result of these renovations, the station broke new ground as the first purpose-built barrierless station.[5] In 1989, the south tunnel was electrified by British Rail, while Platform 4 was also extended, as part of the East Coast Main Line electrification programme to allow for through electric trains from King's Cross in London to Glasgow Central and from Waverley station towards the West Coast Main Line. During 2011, in conjunction with the Airdrie to Bathgate project, the north tunnel was also electrified.

Since December 2006, the station features four through platforms along with a single bay platform sited on the north side of the station.[9] As a general operating rule, trains to and from stations across the Forth Bridge tend to use Platforms 1 and 2, while those trains running to and from Glasgow and the West Coast Main Line make use of Platforms 3 and 4. The bay platform, which is presently designated as Platform 0, was built for services that terminated at Haymarket, which has often occurred when major engineering works take place at the larger Waverley station.[8] All of the station's platforms are now electrified.

Platforms 0 to 4 at Haymarket in 2011, showing all platforms electrified; note the tunnels leading eastwards to Waverley station in the background

Between 1997 and 2012, the annual number of passengers that were recorded as having used the facility had risen by a massive 138 per cent; by 2012, in excess of two million passengers using the station during each year.[8] According to some projections, passenger numbers at Haymarket are expected to climb to as high as 10 million by 2030.[10]

The station has been listed as being amongst the most congested on the Scottish railway network, which has been attributed to repeated rapid increases in commuters using it and aggravated by a lack of modernisation for some time. According to industry publication Rail Engineer, by 2012, Haymarket possessed one of the oldest station buildings and ticket offices in the whole of the United Kingdom; the old facility was small and the 1980s-era footbridge was relatively narrow, factors which did not lend themselves to a huge expansion in passenger footfall.[8] In part to address this growth, during the 2000s and 2010s, state-owned rail owner and maintainer Network Rail performed a £24 million upgrade programme at Haymarket Station, as had been announced during its 2007 business plan; this work was focused on the remodelling of its passenger facilities to better serve growing demand.[11]

The installation of passenger lifts to enabled all platforms to be fully accessible to those with reduced mobility, in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act, was one major change enacted during 2011.[12][8] However, perhaps the most extensive modification programme to be made at Haymarket Station to date, which involved the development of a new concourse and various other improvements to improve the station's capacity, were performed as a part of the wider Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), which sought to improve all rail-related matters between the two largest cities in Scotland.[8][10]

On 28 July 1924, a passenger train ignored a stop signal and collided with a second train at the station. Five people were killed.[13][5] According to the report written by Colonel J. W. Pringle for the Ministry of Transport, the accident was a SPAD (Signal Passed at Danger) caused partly by the position of driver, him misreading the signal, and him not being able to hear the warning bell due to the noise of the engine.[14]

Tram tracks outside the station.

The railway station is served by Edinburgh Trams service, which began operating in May 2014.[15] Renovations to station, in compliance with the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, have turned it into an intermodal transport interchange, whereby it is simple to connect between the trams, Lothian Buses, National Rail and taxi services.[16]

Media related to Haymarket railway station at Wikimedia Commons