page_title: Granton, Edinburgh
section_title: Railways
hierarchical_section_title: Granton, Edinburgh / Transport / Railways
caption_attribution_description: English: Remains of Granton railway
context_page_description: Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.
context_section_description: On development of the harbour, the Duke needed a railway connection to make a profit. He became an investor in the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, which in 1842 opened a line from Canal Street railway station, at right angles to the present Waverley station, Edinburgh, to Trinity Crescent near the Trinity Chain Pier. The line was extended in 1838 to Granton harbour, located on the middle pier. The junction in Edinburgh was too steep to be operated by locomotive, and so trains had to be worked by rope. By 1868, a new line was built from Waverley station through Abbeyhill to Bonnington which ended rope working.
  From 1846-1890, Burntisland railway station was part of the main East Coast railway line to Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen. In 1890 when the Forth Bridge opened, the long distance trains started using it and after that the line to Granton was just used by local passenger and goods trains. Passenger trains ran until 1926, when the tram and omnibus services became fully integrated. Goods services ran until 1986, when the lines were lifted.
  In 1861, the Caledonian Railway opened a line to Granton from Dalry, providing a goods service to Granton harbour. They agreed a contract to run passenger services to the new gas works from central Edinburgh. In 1864, the Caledonian built a line to Leith, with stations at Newhaven Road (near Trinity Academy), Granton Road, East Pilton, Craigleith, Murrayfield and Dalry Road running to Edinburgh Princes Street. One of the two connections between the Caledonian and the North British networks was on Granton Square. Passenger trains ran until 1962, and goods trains until 1968, when the lines were removed.
  The railway embankment, which separated Lower Granton Road from the Forth, was removed in the late-1980s.
caption: The remains of the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway embankment at Granton in 2009
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