Scotland Street Tunnel

When the 960 metre railway tunnel opened 1847, it completed the final section of the Edinburgh-Granton line passing deep beneath the cobbled streets of the New Town from Canal Street Station (later to form part of Waverley station) to Scotland Street.

Due to the steep (1:27 gradient) engines were disconnected from their carriages at Scotland Street station and the northern end of the tunnel, and hauled by steel cable to Canal Street.

As a railway tunnel, it was short-lived, closing in 1868. Other uses include storage for coal wagons, commercial mushroom growing and, during World War II, it was used as an air raid shelter and emergency control centre for the London and North Eastern Railway company.

The southern end of the tunnel was demolished in 1983 to make way for the foundations of the

Princes Mall shopping centre and, today, only a narrow (1.5m wide) ventilation pipe connects

the tunnel to the former site (which can be seen from platform 19 of Waverley Station).

Scotland Street Tunnel is secured at its north entrance by a steel screen which allows a peek inside.  The mouth of the tunnel forms a 'Teen Shelter', just one of many pieces of play equipment in King George V Park.