Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station

Waverley Station is in an excellent location; bang smack in the city centre and literally a stone’s throw from Princes Street so whenever I travel to Edinburgh, this is the station I use (sorry Haymarket!). Oh and if you’re a fan of S Club 7, you might appreciate this station too…
I’m giving it two and half stars for location because other than that (and the added half star bonus which I’ll come to later), I’m not a fan of Waverley. Yeah it has the usual shops you would expect (WH Smith, Boots etc). The station has a few cafes but I didn’t try any of these so can’t comment. I just bought a bottle of water and magazine from WH Smith and have nothing exciting to report.
I don’t like the layout of this station at all… it’s not as spacious as Glasgow Central, and of course that’s a comparison I’m going to make. There was a last minute platform change (thanks for that) and it caused some confusion. Staff weren’t friendly or helpful.
But the icing on the cake — the pièce de résistance if you will — happened just outside the station. Going up onto Princes Street (there’s stairs or esculators) there was a very well dressed chap (not busking) who was standing on a chair belting out ‘Reach for the Stars’. That quite honestly made my day. One of the best things I’ve ever seen!
And if left me wondering… was I in Edinburgh or in fact… Glasgow!!!

I like ScotRail. They operate a good network around Scotland, covering unexpectedly small places like Aviemore and Crianlarich. Prices are high, but that’s the case throughout the UK’s rail network, and ScotRail offers good advance fares if you can plan your trip a few weeks beforehand.
A huge plus for ScotRail is the fact that WiFi is offered for free! Given that this is not the case on larger operators such as Virgin Trains and Cross Country, I was very pleasantly surprised to find free WiFi on offer as standard.
Trains run on time, staff are pleasant, and the route network is good. I can’t really complain. The main negative is that the trains on some less important routes are not the nicest. I’ve travelled on some very old rustbuckets when visiting Anniesland in suburban Glasgow. If these could be upgraded to the same quality as the rest of the network, it’d be great.
I’ll definitely be travelling ScotRail again in the future, and I consider that a positive thing. They usually make for a pleasant journey.

All you could want in the quest to get from here to there: facilities to make you comfortable and outlets to make you less hungry and thirsty; and the thrill of the escalators which take you all the way up to Princes Street level.

There’s nothing special about Edinburgh’s main railway station. Architecturally, it’s not nearly as beautiful as stations in places such as Newcastle. However, the way it’s slotted neatly between streets in a natural dip is a good thing, as the station doesn’t destroy views or photographs of the city centre.
Like any station, Waverley is functional, with a selection of cafes and shops to get some food and a drink before your train. There are enough ticket machines to ensure no long queues, and help is on hand when you need it to find a platform.
However, there’s no exciting part to Waverley, nothing to stare at in admiration, and no shop to be particularly excited about (in the vein of Shake Shack at New York’s GCT). I’ll no doubt be back many times in the future, and I don’t mind this fact, but I also am not particularly excited about it.

Edinburgh Waverly Train Station is a nice sized train station, it has a small food court with Burger king and some other places along with an M&S store, also saw a few kiosk within the train station as well, but the eating choices where not that many compared with how big the station is.
I must have had a great guild because not once did we get lost, we exited the train station without issues onto Princess st and even returned with no problem as well.
Edinburgh Waverly Train Station is well lit, and looked very clean, look forward to traveling through again.

I’ll leave this with a simple summary of my life as a monthly season ticket holder for Scotrail:
1) Arrive at your local station
2) Attempt to purchase your ticket for that day’s travel
3) Ticket machine spits your card out in disgust. Apparently they don’t like new bank cards (by new, it categorises anything that’s under 18 months old…)
4) Stand waiting on a blustery, cold platform for 20 minutes, whilst your train decides whether to arrive on time or not. (Clue: usually not)
5) Cram yourself onto a packed commuter train — 3 carriages for a peak time service into Edinburgh. Genius…
6) Fail to get the ticket man to allow you to buy a ticket on the train, on account of him being physically unable to move down the carriage
7) Arrive at your destination — find yourself stuck in a 10 minute queue with all the other poor saps who couldn’t get a ticket
8) Purchase ticket
9) Attempt to leave the platform — realise there’s another queue where 100+ commuters are trying to get out of the platform via an entrance that would realistically be wide enough usually for two teeny old ladies
10) Finally get to the main station concourse. Decide to be proactive and purchase a monthly season pass, in an effort to avoid steps 2, 3, 6 & 7 in future
11) Go to the queue, as directed by the helpful gentleman by the door. Smile at the first genuine piece of decent service all day
12) Die quietly inside as you reach the front of the queue, and you’re told you should have been directed to the one opposite
13) Finally get your monthly ticket. Go to work. Come home.
14) Wake up the following day
15) Repeat steps 1, 4, 5, 9, 13 & 14. For the next 40 years…
16) Die quietly inside again…

What can I say — it’s a station with trains that get you places you want to go. It’s changed a lot over the years, no chance of getting run down by taxis or coaches now that vehicles are denied entrance. The most recent improvements featuring shiny new escalators and an improved access to Princes Street, haven’t completely obscured the very fine 19^th century architecture. Functional and still rather grand, I like Waverley Station.

My little Unilocal reminder asked me why I keep coming back to Waverley Station well that is simple I like a wee visit to the Capital for some Theatre, Gigs and Fun.
I normally find Waverley Station easy to navigate until I had to board my train the other day at Platform 10 we had to go up an escalator then down stairs or a lift it was very conveluted.
The rail staff aer always very frindly and helpful especially when you assume your train is leaving from platform 15 and get stuck in the barrier.
The retail outlets are very good and plenty to choose from for food and hot and cold drinks.
The exit and entrances are easy to navigate and there are always plenty of Taxis on hand at the rank.
I am not sure when I will be back Waverley but be assured I will be.

Waverley is very convenient for the centre of Edinburgh, and I use it frequently for this reason.
I agree with some of the previous comments that it can be hard to navigate (hence 3 stars), trains do not always leave from the platform you expect (for instance Glasgow trains can sometimes leave from the platforms which are in front of WH Smith and sometimes at platform 8, and some of the platforms have sub letters like E or W (why don’t they just make it one name?).
The relatively recent relocation of the taxis stand to near the Fruitmarket Gallery is not all that convenient if you want to go towards Leith (no doubt adds to the cost too!), I preferred it when you could get a taxi in the station, and I guess that might confuse tourists too (there are several entrances and exits to Waverley for pedestrians, so if you didn’t know the station it would be confusing).
All this said, Waverley is a ‘pretty’ station architecturally and does have some great facilities (large ticket hall which is inside and has some seats, M+S shop, coffee places, Boots, WH Smith, Bagel place). I like its association with Scott as well, especially as I visited Abbotsford recently on the new Borders Rail line. The poetry and quotes which you see around the station relate to his work.

Waverley is one of the most dull train stations I frequent. There are no exciting shops, no exciting seats and everyone rushes too much to people watch when your waiting for the train.
It’s getting better with the arrivals and departure boards but I still feel they need another larger one somewhere so you don’t have to do that mad dash downstairs to break your neck looking at the huge board.
Other than that, it has trains and takes me places so I can’t complain too too much!

Ok, it’s huge (according to Wikipedia it’s the second largest station in the UK) and has 18 platforms, so maybe that’s why, but this station is just so hard to navigate. It’s not too bad if you’re using the main concourse, but getting around the rest of the station can be really tricky. This is made worse by their refusal to list the platforms until the last minute, causing mad dashes across the station in order make it onto the train on time. Oh, and they could seriously use a little more seating.
That aside, it’s not too bad. It has bars, cafes, restaurants and shops. All the usual suspects like Boots, M&S and WHSmith. The ticket and information centre runs smoothly and staff are usually really helpful. There are handy payphones and ATMs available and the bathrooms are kept clean (although I really object to paying 30p to use them).
One thing it isn’t difficult to find is a taxi, the ranks are always full, be careful though, they aren’t allowed to drive into the main station anymore — you have to go to the ranks just outside. Bus links are pretty handy too, with buses servicing most of the city stopping nearby.

Right, can I just say first of all how much I love the connotation of the name of this station to Sir Walter Scott’s novel? Literary allusions like this bring me a secret thrill and so I was already pre-​disposed to liking this station.
But I also think it’s super easy to navigate this admittedly massive train station as signage is very good, plenty of railway staff always around and not too busy to help you out if you are a tourist and the elevators and escalators are a real blessing when traveling with luggage.
I also really loved all the quotations from Scott that were present on the billboard and there were heaps of shopping plus eating options so as a traveller all the conveniences were very convenient!

Well, I’ve had my first ScotRail experience recently and so far, I like it.
My journey began on their website where I purchased a ticket for a short trip to Linlithgow. The website was pretty easy, offering lots of options for ticketing, the purchasing part was no problem, and setting up an online account was quick.
At Waverley, there was an automated machine that I used to get my ticket. That worked out well and was easy to use. There was quite a queue –but that’s just a busy train station. Definitely not ScotRail’s fault.
Finding the platform was interesting because my journey didn’t show up on the screen. It only showed bus rides, not the train that I was taking. I had to ask for help, but a Waverley Station employee eventually got me in the right direction.
The train itself that I bored was dated. The interior was clearly from the 1990s. Throwback Thursday for sure. But, the ride was quick and easy and the train did run only about 2 minutes late. I can live with that.
The ride back from Linlithgow was also nice, with that train being a bit newer. The ride was a little more late coming back to Edinburgh Waverley, but I also think it had something to do with the time of day, nothing ScotRail can do about that.
All-​in-​all, ScotRail is a good service in my view. Their trains aren’t luxury-​ridden and they don’t do much other than shuttle people around. But they are decent, moderately clean trains, that have good prices on tickets.
I will definitely use their services again as I travel around Scotland.

Edinburgh Waverley is a good train station.
Like so many other Unilocalers, I have also fell victim to the funky layout of Waverley when it comes to getting around and getting in and out (depending which way you go). I like to think that this station has a good but small waiting area and a decent selection of places to eat and drink (even more if you go up the escalator to Princes Mall). There are also kiosks and automatic machines to get tickets from, along with several cash machines if you need money.
The platforms appear to confuse people as I have overheard confused travellers more than once say «Wait, you mean it isn’t this way?». So I know it can be a bit quirky for those who are unfamiliar with the layout. Despite this, getting in and out of Waverley is a breeze in my view and getting to your train isn’t a complete nightmare. The location of the station is perfect as well, in between New and Old Town, right next to Princes Street.
The taxi area that I see is just outside on the south entry to the left. This is where you’ll see people queuing up to get their taxi. You’ll have to go up the stairs to get there. In the end, I think that this is a nicely done train station, a bit confusing for those who haven’t been there before, and also a station that is nice to wait at and sits in a good location within the city itself. I’ll make many trips here before I depart Edinburgh. One other thing, the Airlink bus to the airport is to the west exit, at the end of the road.

A vibrant and busy station! I’m quite a fan, I love that its right in the heart of the city, easily accessible, adjacent to the mall, and that staff are so friendly and helpful it made my journey so easy.
Allow a little bit of time if you want to figure it out on your own, or if you’re like me, go straight to the counter and ask for directions and you’ll be all set.
I stayed at the station following my return journey just to stop and people watch while a had some lunch. It’s an interesting little hub with people rushing about, alternatively you could grab some lunch on princes street or in the mall.

As far as navigating through the station goes, while it wasn’t terribly easy, it also wasn’t so difficult. I think they could benefit from the system that London’s Paddington Station uses, where there are colored and labeled lines on the floor, guiding you to your destination.
As it was, we were trying to find a taxi, and followed the signs for «Taxi Rank», only to find out, once we got there, that that particular rank was closed, with no real direction on how to find an alternate.
It took a bit of doing, but we made our way back into the station, and to an information booth, where the kind sir behind the counter told us how to find a taxi. We were close, originally, but needed to make a turn that was not obvious, in order to find the line of cabs.
So, back up and out we went (they discourage people getting on escalators with large luggage, so it was to the lifts for us), and once we were outside, the taxi rank was quite obvious.
The station itself felt small, though I know it’s a fairly large, well-​used station. I’m guessing it’s not always difficult to navigate, but when something’s shut down or temporarily unavailable due to construction, it’d be nice to have clearer signage for their visitors.

If carrying heavy luggage, use the lifts from Princes Street, rather than the escalators down. Then check which platforms on the digital boards before descending by lifts to the platform level.

I feel like they should employ people to stand in the middle of this station and dole out hugs.
Fun fact about me, that I have been endlessly teased about since moving to Edinburgh: prior to my current stint in the UK, I have never been on a train.
Subways. Skytrains. Trams. But never an honest to goodness, track riding, true blue train. So to say that the first time I went to Waverley Station for my very first train ride, I was Hobbit level excited: skipping through the fields and on my way to an adventure!
But if you’ll all remind correctly — Bilbo didn’t exactly walk into a land of sunshine and lollipops either. Thus is Waverley Station.
I suppose there’s a sort of organized chaos if you have been there previously, but for first timers, it’s a bustling, confusing mess of things. The crowds are crazy, the signage is confusing and there are platforms that seemingly don’t exist a la Harry Potter… I need platform 11… that’s not up the escalator but it’s not through those gates… OH it’s that random platform with no signage. GOOD.
But once you throw yourself at the mercy of the support staff and they point you in the right direction — life smooths out. At least picking up your tickets is tickety boo.
First timers: Get there a little bit early and be ready to have an «oh god, oh god» moment of panic. Then immediately look for someone who knows what they’re doing. Like me, they will now be the smug looking folks gliding through the crowds. Once you’ve found your way — have a bagel, buy a coffee, grab a trashy magazine. You did good and soon, you too will be one step closer to smugtown.

Ok train station:
–30p for toilet. (Should be free)
–good, free wifi. See photo of Speed test
–not enough waiting room seating
–good signage
–Virgin ticket machines broken. Need more working automation for all services

In general okay. We ride the train regularly throughout the year and have experienced nice carriages as well as pretty horrendous conditions. During the day the train is ok but in the evening, especially the weekends, absolutely awful. My daughter had to use the toilet and the one toilet on the entire train was the most disgusting mess I have ever seen. I felt traumatised after what I saw and couldn’t even let my daughter use it.
For the price we are paying these things shouldn’t happen. When I compare the prices of the train to other countries in Europe I just feel like I’m getting ripped off. Especially when the train is overcrowded and the bathroom isn’t even usable.
It’s a shame because I love trains and it is my preferred way to travel. Wish Scot Rail would clean up and add more carriages to their evening routes.

Waverley is looking a lot fresher after its clean up, but it is still a rambling shed of a place to try and find your way around, and every direction out of it is uphill. Yes, there are shiny new escalators that take you up to the high-​level walkway that traverses the station, but at either end you are still faced with stairs to get out, or have to hunt around to find the lift to street level.
Now you can’t even get a taxi from within the station — all vehicles have been banished to the outer streets so you’ve got even farther to haul your luggage.
It’s not short of facilities, from bars, newsagents, wee shops, coffee and muffin stalls through to Burger King and M&S Simply Food, so you’re sure to find something to satisfy your appetite
But it’s a ‘proper’ station — despite the narrowness of the tunnelled approaches on each side, it manages to cram in something like 20 platforms in one of the most complicated track layouts you’re likely to see outside of London. It’s unfortunate that they’re not all easy to find and many of the ‘through’ lines involve going up and down stairs (or finding the lifts or escalators); I’ve missed a couple of trains back to Glasgow late at night when they put them on one of the more remote platforms. By the time you’ve gone to the expected central concourse and looked at the destination board, only to find that your train is leaving from Platform 9 or 20, or some other obscure location that you’ve no idea how to find, you’ll often get to the platform to be greeted by the tail lights of your train as it pulls out of the station.
Top navigational tip if you’re heading for the Playhouse or the St. James Centre — there is a ‘back entrance’ way down the side past M&S that takes you out to Calton Road, and from there it’s an easy step up the hill to Leith Street opposite the St. James Centre. But inevitably, there are some stairs involved (although not as many as the other entrances).

Waverley Station these days is a different beast than it used to be. An extensive upgrading and cleaning program has made this station a lot nicer place to spend time than it used to be. It still has problems, notably the vast distance between platforms — leave plenty time between connecting trains, just in case — and a lack of decent food options.
There’s an M&S Food store, a Burger King, a bagel stand and a pasty stand. That’s about it. There’s one small bar inside, The Nor Loch; while not outstanding, it’s decent enough to wait for your train without grumbling.
The stairs to Princes Street now have the much needed escalators that also serve as an entrance to the Princes Mall. Going the other way, towards the Royal Mile, you’re not so lucky — but then you’d be climbing Fleshmarket Close anyway!
It’s a modern, shiny, bright station that covers all the bases it needs to. It might be lacking a little bit of soul, but at the end of the day, it does it’s job.

Ok, I’m lost.
Every time. Every freakin’ time! I get off the train and think I’m walking to an exit and then… nope, wrong way. Wrong turn. Don’t go up there. Wait, do go up there. Hold up, maybe I’m wrong. You know, let’s go find a map.
I get it, they want to keep the beauty and grandeur of the old station with the accessibly of something modern but it just makes it feel like it’s both still under construction and also that they weren’t quite sure what to do with it.
Also, you closed the only taxi rank I knew? What the hell guys. I walked all the way over there just to find a giant open parking lot with them going, «Nope, this is closed. Want to find a taxi? Walk up that giant hill.» So I did, with my incredibly heavy suitcase, so go grab a taxi.
I love taking trains (easily the best way to travel) and this is an epic train station. But it’s also kind of an epic fail.

Maybe it’s because I don’t visit here enough. And maybe it’s the construction that’s been going on. But pretty much every time I visit Edinburgh Waverley I get lost and angry.
I arrived here on Thursday and wanted to head towards the Old Town. I always get a little disorientated but managed to go in the right direction, but somehow I couldn’t find the toilets. Probably because we arrived at a platform that seemed to be closer to Leith than Edinburgh.
The other thing that bugs me is the connection between Waverley and Old Town. I can’t work out how to avoid walking up the 1,000 steps of Fleshmarket and always come out at the exit right in front of them. I don’t want to do this anymore — living in Glasgow has made me soft and lazy.
On my return journey, I needed to buy a ticket due to it being a peak train rather than off peak (don’t even get me started on that issue). That meant I had to go down to the main concourse, buy a ticket and then walk back up the stairs to platform 8E (or maybe it was 8W). There was a train on the platform, but of course it wasn’t actually the train to Glasgow despite the sign saying it was.
I managed to get on the right train and returned to the comforting bosom of Glasgow’s easy to use Central Station, where everything is where is should be and there aren’t any stairs (unless you go to the low level, of course).

There is always something happening here, where it is digging up the floor, or scaffolding every where and its been like this for a few years now.
There are public toilets here but they charge you 30p entry fee your best to go to the Loch Nor bar where you could go for free but they do lock the toilets some times.
There are plenty of kiosks around for drinks/​coffee and food with a marks and spencer there next to burger king.
The staff there look confused and don’t know much and is you ask a question they are not afraid to reply (I don’t know)
Some of the train conductors can be rude depending what side of bed they came out of, a little respect and good customer service can go a long way.
I’ve seen customers being shouted at because they sat in first class as the train was full with first class being empty.
Some signage needs to be more clear as its like the blind leading the blind.

Edinburgh Waverley ist der Hauptbahnhof der Hauptstadt Schottlands, Edinburgh. Hier halten Züge von ScotRail, Virgin Trains und East Coast. Man kann unter anderem nach Glasgow, Aberdeen und London reisen.
Wie immer gibt es auch an diesem Bahnhof fast alle Einrichtungen wie Gaststätten, Drogerien und einen M&S. Toiletten kosten 30p, sind aber sehr sauber und haben schicke neue Handtrockner. Duschen (£5) sind vorhanden.
Der Bahnhof befindet sich in einer Art Tal innerhalb der Stadt unterhalb einer Brücke. Es führt eine Autostraße mitten durch den Bahnhof durch und es gibt mehrere Ausgänge in unterschiedliche Richtung. Daher kann es verwirrend sein, wenn man den Bahnhof verlässt. Besonders abends und nachts sieht es innen auch ziemlich finster aus, so dass man sich bei der Ankunft in Edinburgh zunächst einmal sehr verloren vorkommt.

ich mag den Bahnhof auch. Ich mag vor allem die Verbindung Bahnhof-​Flughafen und Bahnhof-​Dundee. Denn in Dundee hab ich meinen Freund besucht, also ist der Weg dorthin ganz großartig. Macht Sinn? Nein! Aber egal.
Der Bahnhof erscheint von außen zunächst viel größer als er ist.
Man geht in eine riesige Tiefgarage und findet sich plötzlich an den Eingängen zum Gleis wieder.
Rundherum stehen Leute und warten auf die Info, wo wann welcher Zug ein– und abfährt.
Es gibt né Menge Läden, und vor allem einen Cookies-​Stand (lecker, lecker!), der einem das Warten versüßt.
Im Endeffekt halt ein Bahnhof. Aber wenn er einem nicht negativ auffällt, dann muss es eine positive Erfahrung sein.

Ein ganz netter Bahnhof. Hier gibt es viele kleine Shops und wenn man Tickets am Schalter kaufen will, muss man typischerweise né Nummer ziehen. Wenn man im Vorraus bucht, kann man in GB ueberings sehr guenstig mit dem Zug reisen. Zum Gepaeckwegschliessen ist es hier sehr teuer, hab ca 5 pfund gezahlt wenn ich mich richtig erinner.
Gute Fahrt!