Edinburgh Waverley railway station, Main railway station in Old Town, Scotland
Edinburgh Waverley is a large railway terminal in the center of Scotland's capital and sits in a valley between the Old Town and the New Town. The complex holds twenty platforms beneath a Victorian glass roof that lets daylight through and shows the wooden pillars and iron beams of the structure.
The North British Railway opened the terminal in 1846 and replaced earlier smaller stations around the area. Between 1892 and 1902 the site was rebuilt on a larger scale and gained the glass roof and current platform layout during this work.
The name comes from Walter Scott's novels and reminds travelers of Edinburgh's deep ties to books and stories. This literary link fits naturally into a city where writers and writing have shaped daily life for centuries.
The platforms sit low in the valley and require several stairs or lifts to reach street level above. Crowds are heavier during weekday mornings and afternoons, while weekends bring slightly calmer flows of people.
The terminal sits below street level in a natural valley that used to hold a lake called Nor Loch. This unusual low position lets pedestrians cross on bridges above and look down onto the trains and glass roof, giving a rare overhead view of an active railway site.
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