Caledonian Railway - Edinburgh and Lothians

Edinburgh and Lothians

The Caledonian Railway entered Edinburgh on 15 February 1848 when the Edinburgh branch of the Caledonian Railway Main Line opened from Carstairs to a terminus at Lothian Road. This was the first line to open between Edinburgh and England, beating the rival North British Railway which was unable to operate through trains to the south until completion of the Royal Border Bridge in 1850. Services between Edinburgh and Glasgow were also possible, if somewhat indirect, and a period of ruinous competition with the established Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway began.

Seeking a share of the lucrative goods traffic generated by Leith and Granton docks, the Caledonian built a connecting line from Slateford Junction to Haymarket on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, hoping to access the docks over E&G metals. However, the latter firm was not prepared to co-operate with its competitor. When it opened in 1853 the Haymarket branch served industrial premises and a bay platform on the south side of the E&G‘s Haymarket station. This platform was also used by Scottish Central Railway passenger trains from Stirling and the north, which reached the city by way of running powers from Larbert to Haymarket East Junction. These powers were subsequently exercised by the Caledonian, after its acquisition of the Scottish Central in 1865. The Haymarket branch did not achieve its original purpose until 1964 when British Rail opened a short connection from Duff Street Junction to Haymarket East Junction, allowing trains from the Caledonian line to reach Waverley station.

A second attempt to reach the docks resulted in a goods line to Granton Harbour opening on 28 August 1861. The branch was originally owned jointly with the Duke of Buccleuch, who wanted to end the North British Railway’s monopoly at Granton. It left the Haymarket branch at Granton Junction, and at the Granton end a connection was made with the NBR’s Granton branch. This connection served as the main interchange point for goods traffic between the Caledonian and NBR systems in Edinburgh until the Slateford-Craiglockhart curve was opened by BR in 1960.

Leith Docks were eventually reached on 1 September 1864 with the opening of a branch from Crewe Junction on the Granton branch to North Leith. Opening on the same day, a curve between Pilton East and West Junctions allowed direct Leith-Granton movements, and a curve from Dalry Junction on the main line and Coltbridge Junction on the Granton line allowed direct trains from Lothian Road to the two ports.

A direct route from Glasgow opened on 9 July 1869, joining the main line at Midcalder. This allowed the Caledonian to offer a more convenient passenger service between the two cities, although by this time competition for this traffic was no longer so intense.

By now the main terminus at Lothian Road was inadequate, and passenger services were relocated to a new terminus at Princes Street station, slightly further up Lothian Road, on 2 May 1870. On 3 July 1876 a new connection from Haymarket West Junction to Dalry Middle Junction allowed trains from Stirling to reach Princes Street, and Caledonian trains ceased to use Haymarket station. Princes Street station was rebuilt and enlarged in the 1890s, and the railway-owned Caledonian Hotel opened in 1903.

Suburban passenger services between Princes Street and North Leith commenced on 1 August 1879. These had required the construction of new passenger lines parallel to the goods lines between Newhaven Junction and the new passenger terminus at North Leith.

Further branches to Balerno and Barnton opened on 1 August 1874 and 1 March 1894 respectively, these places being rural villages at the time. The Balerno line was actually a loop, paralleling the Carstairs/Glasgow main line between Balerno Junction (west of Slateford) and Ravelrig Junction. The Barnton branch originated at Craigleith Junction on the Leith/Granton line. Both lines had passenger services to Princes Street as well as local goods traffic.

The Caledonian’s last new line in Edinburgh was part of the ill-fated Leith New Lines project. The line which was built originated at Newhaven Junction on the North Leith branch, and ran south east around the edge of Leith, before turning north towards a new terminus at South Leith and a spur from Seafield Junction to the eastern docks. It opened to goods traffic on 1 August 1903. The unbuilt second phase of the project was to have been an ambitious underground line through the city centre to create a circular route for suburban passenger services. However the City Council strongly objected to plans for cut and cover tunnels through the New Town, and by the time the first phase was complete the company had lost interest in the expensive suburban circle proposal due to the level of competition from trams and cable cars. Later, during World War II, a connecting line was built between Seafield Junction and Meadows Yard on the LNER's South Leith branch.