Edinburgh Waverley

[mralexn]

I have not been to this station since march, And I am wondering has much changed? Or is it still a total mess
I will be going there again in October, Can I expect any change between now and then?

 

[michael769]

I have not been to this station since march, And I am wondering has much changed? Or is it still a total mess
I will be going there again in October, Can I expect any change between now and then?

I pass through Waverley every day. There is considerable building work going on and the situation seems to change every couple of weeks.

The roof at the East End is done and is now open and very bright looking down there. The West End is entirely covered now as that is where the work is ongoing. Much of the flooring in and around the main concourse has been replaced, but there are still some patched of temporary flooring and ongoing works there.

The bridge over to the Market Street exit and platforms 8 and 9 is begin rebuilt and access is via an enclosed temporary scaffolding bridge.

The escalators and new roof on the Waverley steps is complete.

In terms of change in the next two months it is hard to say given how quickly and unpredictably things change, but I would imagine the roof works will still be ongoing, and yes it still will be a bit of a building site.

The bridge over to Market St is supposed to be finished "Summer 2012" so one would hope that would be done by then.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I visit Edinburgh about once a year by train, and was there yesterday (a nice fine day).
Waverley is a total black hole, depressing, confusing, congested.
Hard work to find how to get anywhere within the station, particularly to remote platforms.
There are pedestrian routes between the contractors' stuff but they are narrow and crowded.
I thought I would go up the new steps for a bit of light and fresh air.
The escalators alongside the steps are in 3 (4?) sections.
Yesterday the bottom up flight was stuck (the down flight was working!). Great start.
At the top of the steps I took one look round at the tourist throng trying to navigate the footpaths along Princes St and turned straight round and went back down.
I got the next train to Haymarket, hoping for a better experience there, and to wait for my train south.
The station was fine, but the access to it was a complete shambles with the tram works.
On top of that the contractors were drilling incessantly on the north side of the station, giving everybody a headache and preventing station announcements being heard.
Couldn't wait to get away.
I appreciate the scale of the jobs in hand (station and trams) but I think I'll stay away until it's all finished.
The new glass roof at the east end of Waverley at least gives some hope for improvement.

And another thing:
I went up by EC. Great ride in Mk4.
Every platform screen from York northwards said "Edinburgh Waverley", and the Guard always announced it that way.
But when I got to Haymarket, the one place in the universe which might confuse people, the station announcer said every eastbound train was going to "Edinburgh", as though the place had nothing whatever to do with the city you were in.
The trains themselves were divided in their loyalty, but most had "Edinburgh Waverley" on the front, with just a few saying "Edinburgh".

Personally I think Haymarket is important enough to have its own "Edinburgh Haymarket" moniker.
It is a major station interchange and business centre, not an incidental suburban station like (say) Lawrence Hill in Bristol.
I compare it to Manchester Oxford Road, which is always known like that.
The NRE setup (timetables, fares, live departure boards etc) demands just "Edinburgh", so strictly the Haymarket announcer was correct, but I think it needs changing.

 

[route:oxford]

Personally I think Haymarket is important enough to have its own "Edinburgh Haymarket" moniker.
It is a major station interchange and business centre, not an incidental suburban station like (say) Lawrence Hill in Bristol.

Haymarket is a place in it's own right. So definitely doesn't need to be called "Edinburgh Haymarket".

It is a little chaotic around there at the moment. On Sunday, on Princes Street, I'm sure there were more buses on the road than there were pedestrians on the pavement.

 

[Platform1]

"Waverley is a total black hole, depressing, confusing, congested."

Totally correct, and that was before the building work started. It is quite the most horrible, stressful and impractical station I think I have ever visited.

I use it regularly, and it gets me down.

Hopefully, things will improve when all the work is done.

The stations, and Edinburgh city in general have been a building site for about 5 years and it's depressing.

 

[TheEscapist_]

Try working there! No natural light is not good, and the signs are awful there too! It's really is awful, I have no idea who is in charge of the signs there but they need replaced! They need to get people that have never been in the station to tell them where they think the signs should be! If the signs were us good, visible place then I think that would make a difference to the passengers, making them more relaxed about being in the station.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Try working there!

Thanks but No thanks!
As a regular and very long-term user, I'm still making mistakes and equally finding myself striking up conversations with other people who are apparently struggling or lost.
There does appear to be appallingly inadequate signage to plats 2, 8, 9 and 19. I focus on these as they are platforms used by long-distance services, but are hard to find by the unfamiliar passenger, it follows from their use by long-distance traveller, that they will be the most used by infrequent or first-time travellers.

Sure, the outcomes will all be magnificent, beautiful, accessible, efficient and user-friendly (warning: may contain sarcasm), but meanwhile, and in the period of Edinburgh's legendary tourism attraction, its peak being now - the Edinburgh International Festival, then I have to say it's not fit for purpose . . . . . it's crap.

 

[Welshman]

I must say that in my 50-odd years of rail-travelling, Edinburgh Waverley wins the first prize for the most confusing station I've ever had to navigate.

 

[David10]

When they renumbered the platforms a few years ago, I have no idea why they didn't do it in a logical order. I can see how they have done it, if you move around in a clockwise direction from the NE but having 2 & 19 and 1 & 20 on the same platform is confusing, should have been numbered 1-4.

 

[TheEscapist_]

When they renumbered the platforms a few years ago, I have no idea why they didn't do it in a logical order. I can see how they have done it, if you move around in a clockwise direction from the NE but having 2 & 19 and 1 & 20 on the same platform is confusing, should have been numbered 1-4.

I think they are numbered in a good way to what they were before. They start off that 1 on the north-east side of the station, then head south to 2, 3, 4, 7 and get to 8 and 9 then go back around to 10 - 20 which is at the north-west side of the station. I think that was an improvement of what it was before.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

The numbering sequence is an attempt to impose order onto chaos.
It remains as chaos, despite all those attempts.

As hinted above, I've been a regular user for more decades than many of here have been alive, but despite that familiarity with the physical layout, the platform numbering is persitently (I need a technical term here . . . ) befuddling, and the signage, for the unfamiliar, is evidentially not fit for purpo..[sorry, I'm about to repeat myself so I'll stop]

 

[Stephen55a1960]

"Waverley is a total black hole, depressing, confusing, congested."

Totally correct, and that was before the building work started. It is quite the most horrible, stressful and impractical station I think I have ever visited.

I use it regularly, and it gets me down.

Hopefully, things will improve when all the work is done.

The stations, and Edinburgh city in general have been a building site for about 5 years and it's depressing.

Not much change since June 16th (when I spent a depressing hour between trains)

 

[michael769]

I pass through the station daily and pass the dreaded Market Street exit, which is usually occupied by milling tourists confused as to how they have somehow passed through the station and out again without encountering a train or platform.

Indeed on an almost weekly basis I am approached by people trying to find the way out to Princes Street, or their platform. Anyone unfortunate enough to have to use any platform outside the main concourse (ie most tourists and long distance travellers) have an awful experience. The problems are compounded by the quite frankly appalling standards of announcements (or often complete lack of) in times of disruption minor or major.

In fact all of the complaints I have seen fit to make to ToCs or NR have been about incidents in Waverley. A common theme in the handling of those complaints have been that the responses usually end up with ToCs blaming NR and vice versa, and I have come to the conclusion that the root of the problems at Waverley stem from an unwillingness of any of te stakeholders to accept responsibility for the efficient running of it.

Having said all that the staff on the ground generally do a good job of helping folks out and bringing order to the mess, but they are sometimes hampered by spectacularly poor deployment decisions by ToCs and Network Rail.

 

[LE Greys]

There's also the somewhat odd eastern end, loads of bays that once served places such as Musselburgh and Leith, not to mention the Waverley Line, but now just have the hourly return to North Berwick and some sleeper locos stabled for the day.

 

[michael769]

There's also the somewhat odd eastern end, loads of bays that once served places such as Musselburgh and Leith, not to mention the Waverley Line, but now just have the hourly return to North Berwick and some sleeper locos stabled for the day.

I often find confused tourists somewhat lost down that end.

 

[LE Greys]

I often find confused tourists somewhat lost down that end.

I once got spoken to by a police officer when I was down that end. My 'crime', trying to find some peace and quiet to read the Scotsman! I didn't mind too much, she was a very pretty, young WPC, although saying so might have got me arrested.

 

[scotsman]

Haymarket is simply a part of Edinburgh. Namely a bit half a mile west of the city centre, 'tis all.

Haymarket is a place in it's own right. So definitely doesn't need to be called "Edinburgh Haymarket".

It is a little chaotic around there at the moment. On Sunday, on Princes Street, I'm sure there were more buses on the road than there were pedestrians on the pavement.

 

[michael769]

Update:

As of today the new entrance at Market Street has been uncovered and from what i could see through the shutter it is substantially complete (and very nice looking), however the roof for the stairways to Platforms 8 and 9 still has a few missing panels, and the "inner" end needs has some finishing works.

I would expect that by October it will be open.

 

[90019]

Update:

As of today the new entrance at Market Street has been uncovered and from what i could see through the shutter it is substantially complete (and very nice looking), however the roof for the stairways to Platforms 8 and 9 still has a few missing panels, and the "inner" end needs has some finishing works.

I would expect that by October it will be open.

I think it's been like that for a few days now - it was certainly uncovered when I was passing it on Friday.

 

[reb0118]

I often find confused tourists somewhat lost down that end.

Best place for them!

As a true Edinburgh man I'm out for the whole of August! Wake me up when the Festival(s) are over and I can get my city back.

 

[90019]

Best place for them!

As a true Edinburgh man I'm out for the whole of August! Wake me up when the Festival(s) are over and I can get my city back.

Lucky bugger - I'm working right through the whole Festival.


Spending plenty of time on the 36 too, which is horrendous during the festival - I was running 42 minutes late at one point on Friday.

 

[michael769]

I would expect that by October it will be open.

I was right!

The new entrance at Market Street was open today, as is the new stairway and lifts down to platforms 8 and 9. And very nice it is too. Much wider and lighter than its predecessor. The signage seems very good, though I fear given the general public's inability to pay attention to signs folks will continue to get lost