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Hi,
Does anyone know of a history of attempts to persuade Edinburgh City Council and Network Rail to re-open this tunnel for cycle/pedestrian access to Waverley Station and the city centre?
I am sure its been thought of before, but I know little of any previous attempts, any info would be appreciated
Cheers
Shug
Does anyone know of a history of attempting to make the council do something unusual or interesting in Edinburgh?
If anyone knows, the proprietor of this forum will.
Lothian Region Council had a rather blue-sky-thinking plan of an Edinburgh light rail / metro / tram scheme that involved re-opening closed rail lines, on-street tram, and an interchange at St Andrew Square involving the Scotland Street Tunnel. There was a plan to somehow tunnel through to Newington and come to the surface there, but I can't work out how the reality of geography could be made to bend to that.
There's a diagram of the scheme here, on Railscot
Lots of good stuff here -
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/s/scotland_street_tunnel/index.shtml
And a bit here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh,_Leith_and_Newhaven_Railway
There have been lots of 'ideas' for using it - because it's there more than because it's 'the answer to a real problem'.
It's quite steep (though not as steep as Dublin Street - which has had 'plans' for a bike lift).
Main problem is that it reaches Waverley at track level.
It *could* have been incorporated into Waverley Market (Princes Mall), it *could* have been a weather avoiding link to the bus station.
But-this-is-Edinburgh.
It's not London where the tube infrastructure is generally easier to create due to clay rather than igneous geology.
I assume LRC's Metro plans involved routing under the Waverley running lines, Cowgate etc.
One reason it didn't happen (apart from the money) is that (some) Newington residents didn't like the idea of it popping up near their houses.
whoops. wrong thread...
To be fair to the Newington residents, it would have to be a pretty big hole if it was going to accommodate light-rail. Where would a hole that big 'pop-up'?
Where would a hole that big 'pop-up'?
Tracing a line between preceding and following stops, somewhere around Salisbury Place would make sense - and following the topography, the obvious location is just beyond Kittle Yards (home of the Bike Station), where the ground suddenly dips downwards. The petrol station would be perfect in fat. This would allow for a relatively small portal; the metro line could exit the ground without too much inclination, rather than having to climb out at a shallow angle (requiring a large portal).
That, of course, is all conjecture.
The obvious problem would be how to cross Waverley Station. The tracks would have to cross the existing tracks and the platforms now in place. I'd rather it open up to a large cycle storage on platform 20 in the corner it emerges from, and a segregated path to Carlton Rd or up a shallow path in Princes Street Gardens.
You could go under, over, or not bother and come out of the ground somewhere under/inside Waverley Market (or turn sharp right and come out somewhere in the retaining embankment of West Princes St Gardens.
Under makes more sense than over, as the tunnel is climbing at c. 1:18 gradient, you wouldn't want to increase that further by trying to gain enough height to get over the tracks and overhead lines. To go under you would of course then have to have some sort of ramp system into the station itself. The BTP compound would be an obvious location.
"Where would a hole that big 'pop-up'?"
Minto Street I think.
I have a leaflet somewhere...
Last I heard was that a Youth Centre was going to be built in the tunnel mouth.
Called Tunnel Youth Project
There was report outlining the need to repair this and bring back into use a small section of the tunnel. (source Broughton Spurtle ink to pdf file.
The Waverley end of tunnel has been disrupted by the Market I think.
There was some work recently where the bricked up portal was unblocked and replaced with security fencing.
EDIT - having read the report now (v. interesting), the work on the portal was done as long ago as 2010.
The PDF that LaidBack linked to is an interesting read. There are photos on page eight showing the Princes Mall construction and the opening of the 1.5m diameter ventilation pipe which replaced the south end of the tunnel.
From the PDF:
"The demolition of the southern end of the tunnel in 1983 to make way for the foundations of the Princes Mall adjacent to Waverley station makes the re-opening of the tunnel as a through route virtually impossible"
and...
"The depth of the tunnel and lack of access or exit points makes the space completely unusable for public access."
If *anything* were possible then perhaps a through route could be linked up with the Crawley Tunnel taking you all the way to the Meadows!
Found out about that tunnel here:
http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7201
Re the "Crawley Tunnel" it lives up to it's name - recumbents only!
Updated link to "Laidback's" Broughton Spurtle pdf:
The latest Friends of King George V Park newssheet came through my door & seemed to be proposing covering up the tunnel mouth again as a place to host murals. Only skimmed it but it seemed like a bit of a volte face.
Turn it into covered cycle parking :)
"Crawley Tunnel"
Presumably did/(does?) start here -
http://canmore.org.uk/site/303390/edinburgh-corporation-water-works-crawley-cistern
@chdot - yes, it's on "the map" (you know the one)
Getting water from the Crawley Spring.
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