Haymarket railway station is the second largest railway station in Edinburgh, Scotland, after Waverley railway station.
The station serves as a major commuter and long-distance destination, located near the city centre, in the West End. Trains from the station serve much of Scotland, including Fife and Glasgow, as well as suburban lines to the east, and the East Coast Main Line through to London King's Cross. It is the fifth busiest railway station in Scotland.
History
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. 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. 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. According to some projections, passenger numbers at Haymarket are expected to climb to as high as 10 million by 2030.
The installation of passenger lifts to enable 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. Where possible, items were partially built off-site before being transported and moved into position using large cranes, such as the steelwork for the new footbridge, which minimised passenger impact and was considered to be more safe. According to Network Rail's project manager Tom McPake, work typically involved no disruption to train services as it only required rules of the route possessions; keeping the station operational throughout was described as being the main challenge. Cleanup work, such as the demolition of the old footbridge and lifts, continued until April 2014.
Transport interchange
thumb|right|Tram tracks outside the station in January 2014.
The railway station is served by Edinburgh Trams service, which began operating in May 2014. Renovations to the 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, bus services (including Lothian Buses, McGill's Scotland East, Bright Bus Airport Express and Scottish Citylink) and taxi services. The 900 Edinburgh–Glasgow bus service calls here.
Services
Platforms and layout
Haymarket has a total of 5 platforms, numbered 0 to 4. Platforms 1 and 2 are used for trains to/from stations across the River Forth (accessed via the Forth Rail bridge). Platforms 3 and 4 are used for trains to Glasgow as well as all West Coast Main Line Services. Platform 0 is a little-used bay platform on the north side of the station for the small number of services which are timetabled to start from (and terminate at) the station instead of Waverley.