St Leonards railway station (Scotland) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
St Leonards
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Surviving goods shed
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| Location | Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Scotland |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway |
| Pre-grouping | North British Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 2 June 1832 | Opened |
| 1846 | Closed |
| 1 June 1860 | Reopened |
| 30 September 1860 | Closed to passengers - site reused as a goods depot |
| 1968 | Goods depot closed |
St. Leonards railway station is a closed railway station on the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. It was Edinburgh's first railway station. The railway was built in 1831 to transport coal from the mining towns south of the city; and the following year opened passenger services. St. Leonards was the terminus for the south of the city and was named after the nearby region.
Passenger services ceased in 1846, when the North British Railway opened a station at North Bridge which later developed into Waverley station. Services from Dalkeith were re-routed via Portobello. The station reopened briefly between 1 June 1860 and 30 September 1860 when a service was temporarily re-introduced from St. Leonard's to Dalkeith, Portobello and Leith, but it closed again within a few months. The railhead continued to see heavy use in its original intended role as a coal yard until 1968.
Both the coal depot and the railway line are now gone and have been redeveloped into housing. The goods shed is the only surviving building and is a category B listed building. It is currently planned to be converted into a whisky distillery & visitor centre by 2019. The route of the line can still be followed, protected from development by the construction of a cycle path where the tracks ran.
