Day 22
Leith Central Station
Author of ‘Old Edinburgh Trams’ , Kenneth G. Williamson, provides Leith For Ever with a brief history of the Leith Central Station.
The Story of Leith Central Station is a story of rivalry between North British Rail (NBR), who operated existing stations in Leith, and Caledonian Railway (CR) who wanted to bring stations and lines into the area.
Despite informing Leith Town Council in 1884 that a further line to Leith was not viable, in 1891, the North British Railway changed their tune and decided to build a short branch northwards from Abbeyhill, to a new station at the foot of Leith Walk.
The reason for this change of heart was caused by plans by the Caledonian Railway for a Leith New Line. An elevated line across Leith from Newhaven Junction to Seafield for both passenger and goods traffic. This line was eventually built, with provision made for several stations but these never materialised, and the line was used for goods only.
On 1st July 1903, after 3 years of contracting, and 12 years of building, the new line and Leith Central station finally opened for passenger traffic. Trains ran every thirty minutes on the one mile line, (six minute journey) to Waverley Station.
The construction of Leith Central by the NBR saw the largest station ever constructed in Britain from scratch in the twentieth century. The station was much larger than necessary and was never used to its full potential.
Due to a lack of signage, passengers had difficulty finding the entrance to the station, and initially the only destination offered was to Waverley.
Despite all of this, the station became quite popular mainly due to the ‘Pilrig Muddle’ on the tramway system. Tram passengers had to switch from the electrically operated Leith trams to the cable system used by Edinburgh at Pilrig on the boundary between Edinburgh and Leith. This came to an end in 1923 when Edinburgh adopted the electric tram system following the amalgamation.
The increased convenience of the trams, combined with the inconvenient accessibility of both Leith Central and Waverley station (consider the Waverley steps without the option of escalator or modern lift) sent Leith Central Station into a 31 year decline.
On 5 April, 1952 Leith Central branch and station closed to passengers. There was very little opposition - it had been ‘the station nobody wanted’.
In 1955 Platforms were removed and fuel tanks installed when Leith Central was converted into what was probably Britain’s first Diesel Depot to maintain DMUs which were being introduced on a dieselised Edinburgh - Glasgow service.
The final closure of Leith Central took place in 1972 and the empty station lay vacant for seventeen years. In it’s ruined state it was unusual in inspiring Irvine Welsh’s controversial book and film ‘Trainspotting’.
It was finally demolished in 1989-90. giving way to a supermarket and Soft Play Amusement Centre. Very little remains of Leith Central Station and the branch line from Abbeyhill.
A huge thanks to Kenneth for sharing his Trains & Trams knowledge with Leith For Ever. If you would like to see more he has a book “Old Edinburgh Trams” available below and from various retailers. Kenneth is currently writing another one on trains, so keep your eyes out for that!