Story Contracting were tasked to deliver three critical elements of the Edinburgh Waverley Capacity Upgrade plan, to extend and improve the platforms at Scotland’s second busiest railway station.
As part of Network Rail’s enhancement programme, Waverley Station has been evolved by a series of infrastructure upgrades to create an environment that meets passengers’ 21st century needs while preserving Waverley’s rich heritage. The station sees over 1,100 train movements and over 80,000 passengers per day and it was vital that passenger service was maintained throughout the project.
These works, delivered as part of the Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme (IEP) and the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), were vital to accommodate the new longer electric trains being introduced on the network, the May timetable changes and the overall future growth and demand of both track and capacity at the station.
16,000
man hours worked
72
engineering trains
The scope of the project was to design and implement the following works:
• Footbridge & escalator install ahead of Edinburgh Fringe Festival where passenger numbers treble
• Extending Platform 5&6 by 275m into the heart of the station
• Installing crossover to Platform 10&11 ahead of the May timetable changes
• Full upgrade and refit of the former BTP building to provide accommodation within the station
• Upgrades to the South approach ramp to provide new facilities
• Installation of revenue protection gate lines
• Platform 19 upgrades to provide compliant platforms
• New OLE wire run and relocation of signals on new gantry
• Running day and night for over 12 months, multiple workfaces were all ongoing at the same time, to ensure the major station upgrade works required were delivered on time.
• The project team were able to meet all the tight milestones of the work with a minimum of disruption to the tens of thousands of customers who use Waverley every day.
• Edinburgh Waverley currently has an average annual footfall of 29.4 million passengers, which is set to rise to 40 million passengers by 2024. The infrastructure upgrade works, and the new rolling stock it will enable, delivered by Story Contracting on behalf of Network Rail, will help to transform travel to and from Edinburgh Waverley, meeting the future demand of a growing passenger base at the station.
Edinburgh Waverley is at the heart of the capital and a vital part of our rail network – carrying passengers across the length of Scotland and south to London on the East Coast Main Line.
“The work we have delivered over the last two years will help to make sure the station can continue to play an important role in the economic and social life of the city.
Network Rail
The project involved regrading approximately 280 metres of the embankment to enhance structural stability and improve rail safety.