Edinburgh Waverley railway station from Haymarket, Waverley has been the principal railway station in Edinburgh. From 1870 to 1965 the city had a second major station, Princes Street, operated by the rival Caledonian Railway, but this was never as important as Waverley. As at other large railway stations of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the railway company constructed a grand station hotel beside their station. The North British Hotel, adjacent to the station at the corner between Princes Street and North Bridge (on the site of the coachworks) opened in 1902. In 1983 British Rail sold it to the Forte hotel group. In 1988
Edinburgh Waverley railway station recommissioning of the suburban platforms (at the south) and provision of additional through platforms to the north to serve the increased proportion of through rail traffic. Waverley Mall, which occupies a column of space (formerly Waverley Market, a live cattle market) nestling between Waverley Station, Waverley Bridge, and Princes Street, opened in 1985. This mall has benefited from the installation of escalators on the Waverley Steps to Princes Street in 2011. During 2006 and 2007 parts of Waverley were extensively refurbished, including two new through platforms and the electrification of Platforms 12 to 18 in preparation for electric trains from