Later Railway Developments
The NBR did not upgrade the E&DR line simply to reach Gorebridge; the destination was Carlisle, there joining with English railway companies and forming a through route between the English and Scottish capitals. It took until 1862 to build a railway across the thinly populated moorland of the Southern Uplands.
The through route never achieved supremacy against the other Anglo-Scottish routes, remaining as a useful, but secondary, path across southern Scotland. It closed in 1967.
During the British Railways Modernisation Plan of the early 1960s, there was a need to build a large modern mechanised freight marshalling yard to concentrate goods train activity for the Edinburgh area, and this was situated at Millerhill, on the original E&DR main line a little south of the Niddrie junction. This was opened in 1962, but as wagonload freight declined in the UK, it was substantially closed in 1982. (Minor trainload activity remains there.)
Much of the Leith branch remains in use, serving the port area there.
The St Leonard's terminus remained in use for coal and goods traffic until 1968; the depot warehouse dating from the 1830s with its characteristic columns and beams has been preserved. Part of the line from St Leonards to Niddrie remains in use as the Edinburgh Suburban Line, useful as a freight by-pass line for Edinburgh.
Transport Scotland is at present (2012) engaged in construction to reopen the northern part of the Waverley route, to provide a passenger rail connection between Edinburgh and Tweedbank. Official publicity states (November 2012) that " Ministers remain committed to the target project delivery date of December 2014."
The route will reoccupy the original E&DR alignment from Niddrie to Dalhousie.
Read more about this topic: Edinburgh And Dalkeith Railway
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