Morningside Road railway station is a former

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the Morningside area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was opened by the

Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway The Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway was a railway company that built an east-west railway (known as the Edinburgh Suburban Line or more familiarly the Sub) on the southern margin of Edinburgh, Scotland, primarily to facilitate ...

(ESSJR) on 1 December 1884 as Morningside Station. After the ESSJR was incorporated into the

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

on 1 March 1885, the station was renamed Morningside Road in October 1886. Morningside Road station closed in 1962, when passenger rail services were withdrawn from the Edinburgh Suburban line, although the line itself was retained for

rail freight Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

use. The route continues to be used for freight services to this day, and occasionally diverted passenger trains also pass through Morningside. Currently (2022)

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

use the line for some empty coaching stock moves between Edinburgh and Glasgow and

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

have a daily passenger train from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

Location

The station was located by Morningside Road, where the road bridge crosses the suburban line, and was accessed via a gate on the west side of the road, opposite the Morningside Clock. Today the station building has been converted for commercial use. The outer circle platform was removed to allow

Mark 3 Mark 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It relates a conflict over healing on the Sabbath, the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, a conflict with scribes and a meeting of Jesus with h ...

coaching stock to operate on the line.

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise a ...

has an advertising hoarding on the bridge next to the clock, where its displays posters advertising passenger rail services. The iron footbridge from the former station still stands to this day, connecting Maxwell Street to Balcarres Street.

Future

A local

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

, the Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG), is running a campaign for the SSJR line to be re-opened to passenger services, and proposes that it should be operated either as a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

service or as a light rail system to form an extension of the forthcoming

Edinburgh Tram Network Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is a line between St Andrew Square in the New Town and Edinburgh Airport, with 15 stops. Construction began in June 2008, and after encountering delays ...

. Following a petition submitted to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

in 2007, the proposal was rejected in 2009 by transport planners due to anticipated cost.

References

External Links

Disused railway stations in Edinburgh Former North British Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1884 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 {{Edinburgh-railstation-stub