CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
“Call to restore historic footbridge over Waverley Station roof”
(21 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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What was this bridge like to cycle on, was cycling allowed?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Presumably now is also the time to advocate for the same opportunity being taken to re-open and connect the Scotland Street tunnel?
Long shot, but would be a gamechanger for cross-town travel if both were done.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Campaign website:
Posted 7 years ago # -
In case it's not obvious, this is an old campaign. The "The footbridge today" page is out of date
The last remains of the original bridge were removed in the roof refurbishment a few years ago.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Whilst of some historical interest, there is imo no reason to reinstate this footbridge. A good near alternative is available through the station with full disability access. I would prefer to see enhanced walking and cycling provision on Calton Road to Holyrood and to New Street. If there is support for a long bridge, it should be for crossing the tracks on the Roseburn/Canal route.
Posted 7 years ago # -
North-south through the city centre has nearly zero cycling provision. You take your chances with the Leith Street blender, the Hanover Street blender, or the Lothian Road blender. All rubbish. Leith Street is just a massive missed opportunity, so for that reason I'd support this ped/cycle bridge concept - it's comparatively practical (and *ought not* to cost vast amounts, as long as CEC aren't involved).
Posted 7 years ago # -
Posted 7 years ago #
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There may be no business reason for network rail to reinstate the bridge but for non-station use it may good. I cant see why network rail would want to reinstate it but the council, lottery sustrams or someone may think good. It would also be good tourist attaction
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Klaxon: The last remains of the original bridge were removed in the roof refurbishment a few years ago.
Actually, the girders which supported the bridge deck are still there:
I suspect because they're pretty much essential to the strength of the roof structure at that point.
As mentioned in the EEN article, the raised roof section is also still there. You can see it clearly in the Google Maps satellite image of Waverley - it's the pale grey line running slightly obliquely south to north.
The article is a bit garbled about the actual route of the bridge - it actually ran from Jeffrey Street over East Market Street. You can see a length of mis-matched railing on the north side of Jeffrey Street (when it's not covered with fringe posters) which is where the bridge originally ran from.
The north end of the bridge descended the fairly steep steps which are still in place at the end of the pedestrian access to the station from Calton Road. You can see the stone-built pier that used to carry the footbridge across to the steps in the second photo in the EEN article (that pier was only demolished in the last few years, when the Calton Road drop-off area was constructed). I'd imagine that the steps as they are at present aren't great for hefting a bike up and down, though it appears from Streetview that there is a wheel trough in place at the moment. If the old footbridge was to be re-opened to cater for cycle as well as foot traffic then I'd expect a ramp would need to be built instead - though space is a bit limited so it might take some imaginative thinking to work out where it could go.
AFAIK the south end of Scotland Street Tunnel is buried under Princes Mall/Waverley Mall these days - apart from the wee opening at the west end of platform 20 which has an explanatory plaque next to it. Even if the tunnel could be re-opened I think there would be a bit of a height different to overcome to get up to street level (according to Wiki the tunnel is 37ft below Princes Street). You can see where the south portal of the tunnel was, and how a chord from the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway's Canal Street station connected to the North British/Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway tracks running through what is now Waverley Station, in this 1853 OS map.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I think the forum already solved the problem of the tunnel's depth from street level with a couple of helical ramps leading to St Andrew Square.
No way in hell would today's Network Rail permit a footbridge over a station with only thin sheets of glass between it and several sets of tracks.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I don't see any need for it to link to Princes Street or anything like that - there's plenty of space on North Bride etc for segregated lanes to link the Old and New Town in the timescales we'd be talking about here. However, a direct, entirely segregated, traffic light-free route from the Royal Mile to the NEPN would be a gamechanger. I think there's just enough space behind the platforms for a bridge-to-tunnel link.
If they thought they could have built it for cars in the 60s, they'd have tried - so why don't we try and do it for bikes in the 2020s?
Posted 7 years ago # -
I hadn't spotted the girders were still there. For shame, given how much I'm through the station. The walking deck would probably have needed renewed comewhatmay anyway, so maybe the refurbishment wasn't as severe as I thought.
Walking height access is maintained all the way through from Scotland Street to Platform 20 via the ventilation shaft pictured here, so maybe there is potential to open it out:
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Jonty The tunnel is irredeemably blocked south of Princes Street by the foundations of Waverley/Princes Market.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Nooooooo.
Still though, when there's a will there's a way.
Posted 7 years ago # -
talking of Remnants there is six feet of track from the original cable car that came up from Leith at the start of Regent's Road
Posted 7 years ago # -
@ih - so to open the tunnel we need to knock down Princes Mall?
Two birds, one stone!
Posted 7 years ago # -
PM has really gone downhill (from a bottom of the hill position ) No one would really care if it was closed, would they?
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
At the south end, a narrow corrugated metal tube runs from the tunnel underneath Princes Mall, emerging behind an insignificant looking barred gate in the north wall of Waverley Station. Most people who pass it daily would never suspect where it goes! So access and ventilation has been maintained, even though the south portal no longer exists.
"With pic:
Posted 7 years ago # -
More pics, and a sketch plan of the tunnel layout here:
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/s/scotland_street_tunnel/index2.shtml
Note that the author has got his north and south mixed up a couple of times. Also, I believe platform 20 was built after the photo of the gated entrance to the ventilation tunnel was taken; you can now look down on to the gate from the rear edge of platform 20. The sign is still there.
If his sketch plan is anything like correct - in particular, the dog-leg to towards the east - then that hole in the wall is nowhere near where the connecting chord emerged. By my reckoning, based on the 1853 OS map I linked above, it would have been a fair way further west, possibly actually emerging through Waverley Bridge, before joining the E&G/NBR tracks. I might go and have a nosey to see whether there might be any trace still left eg on the west side of Waverley Bridge, perhaps something visible from Princes Street Gardens, next time I'm down that way.
Posted 7 years ago # -
By my reckoning, based on the 1853 OS map I linked above, it would have been a fair way further west, possibly actually emerging through Waverley Bridge, before joining the E&G/NBR tracks.
The original south portal was 27 metres from the centreline of Princes Street. In other words, it was 1.5 metres before one meets the main glazed roof of Princes Mall.
Posted 7 years ago #
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