Edinburgh City Council has given an unenthusiastic okay for the revised plans for £30 million expansion of Haymarket Station (Edinburgh's West End railway station). The project will see a new building extended out beyond the existing historic facade (see above), with a new concourse, 12 ticket gates, glass lifts, and a glass bridge across the track to the platforms. Work is expected to start next year and be completed by 2013 or early 2014.
While there's general agreement that Haymarket needed an upgrade, especially as use of the station is forecast to rise from 4.1 million passengers now to up to 9 million by 2030, there's been criticisms of Network Rail's uninspired design and the poor integration of the new station with the surrounding area and other transport links - namely the tram line (when it's eventually finished), buses, taxi rank, and even cycle facilities (there's only parking for 40 cycles in the current plan).
The Guardian blogs that councillors were frustrated that archaic legislation meant Network Rail didn't have to consult before putting forward the design and council couldn't rule on links with facilities outwith the station.
Councillors were told that funding could be withdrawn if the project was delayed until after the end of the financial year.
Faced with the choice of liking it or lumping it, they chose the former.
In other news...
The mediation process between Tie and its contractors to get the Edinburgh trams project back on track is now off until March.
More tram delays? Plus ça change...
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