12.12.16
New £41m Edinburgh Gateway station now open
The new £41m Edinburgh Gateway train-tram interchange was officially opened by the Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf last Friday (9 December).
The new station, in the west of Edinburgh, will be of great benefit to passengers from Fife and the north of Scotland by granting them easy access to Edinburgh’s tram network and airport.
The station opened to the public on Sunday (11 December) when timetabled services began to call at the station.
“I am delighted today to officially open the new Edinburgh Gateway station,” Yousaf said. “This £41m investment will offer huge benefits to rail passengers travelling to or from the Gogar area, integrating the rail network with the tram network and providing a convenient link to Edinburgh Airport.
“The station being delivered on time and on budget is testimony to the hard work of all involved.”
Edinburgh Gateway forms part of the Scottish government’s Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), which aims to roll out electrification and greener trains across the central belt and deliver reduced journey times and increased capacity.
Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, argued that Edinburgh Gateway will transform the way that people use the Scottish rail network.
“Scotland’s railway is undergoing its biggest transformation since Victorian times as we work with the government to deliver the stations, tracks and trains needed to provide more seats and more services for our customers,” Verster explained.
“This new interchange is a wonderful example of our vision for Scotland’s railway, which is all about working in partnership with others to deliver choice for customers and help create social and economic opportunities for the communities we serve.”
The new station boasts two 10-car platforms and 1,500sqm of concourse space, offering direct trains to Perth, Dundee, Inverness and Fife while upping trains to central Edinburgh to six trains per hour.
It will particularly provide increased choice for Fife-based commuters travelling to and from Edinburgh Business Park, with the number of trains calling at the nearby South Gyle station set to reduce apart from peak time services.
Cllr Lesley Hinds, transport convenor for Edinburgh City Council, said: “The new Edinburgh Gateway provides a further vital link between the rail network and Edinburgh Trams, connecting thousands and thousands more passengers from outside Edinburgh with the airport and the city centre and offering increased choice for travellers.”
During his visit, Yousaf met project engineers, station staff and representatives from the Edinburgh Gateway Partnership, which designed and developed sculptured landscaping for the stations’ main approach and artwork for the walkway between the station and the Gyle centre.
(Image c. Network Rail)
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