page_title: Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway
section_title: Granton Harbour
hierarchical_section_title: Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway / History / Granton Harbour
caption_attribution_description: Leith Citadel railway station, now a youth centre
context_page_description: The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway was a railway company formed in 1836 to connect the city of Edinburgh with the harbours on the Firth of Forth. When the line connected to Granton, the company name was changed to the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway. It opened part of its route in 1846, but reaching the centre of Edinburgh involved the difficult construction of a long tunnel; this was opened in 1847. It was on a steep incline and was worked by rope haulage.
  The rope-worked tunnel proved a major handicap, and after the company had been taken over by the North British Railway, a longer but more convenient route was built round the eastern edge of the city at Abbeyhill. It opened in 1868.
  By the end of the nineteenth century the Leith station was unsuitable for the developing suburban passenger traffic, and a new branch to Leith Central station was built, opening in 1903.
  All of the original route has been dismantled, except part of the line from Piershill to a waste consolidation depot at Powderhall which remained in use until it closed in 2016.
context_section_description: The change of mind about the ferry terminal was not the end of the matter. In October 1837 the Duke of Buccleuch started construction work on the Central Pier at Granton, still further west.
  Buccleuch instituted a ferry service from Granton to Burntisland in September 1844, and the success of this route eclipsed the service from Newhaven and Trinity across the Forth. This took away most of the traffic of the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, which did not come close to Granton. Seeing this difficulty approaching, the EL&HR submitted a Bill to Parliament for an extension of their line to Granton, and on 19 July 1844 the Act received the Royal Assent. The Company name was changed to the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway, and as well as the Granton extension a branch from Warriston to Leith was authorised. The Granton extension was opened on 19 February 1846. A new and attractive station at Trinity was part of the scheme; the line ran west from there, turning north on to the pier at Granton. The line from Warriston to Leith opened on 10 May 1846.
  At Granton, the world's first train ferry took goods wagons by boat to Burntisland in Fife. The service commenced on 3 February 1850. Thomas Bouch designed the ferry slip. The ferry was the Leviathan, and was designed by Thomas Grainger. The through train ferry service was withdrawn in 1876, but a passenger ferry continued for many years.
caption: Leith North station building; it is now a youth centre
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