Edinburgh Bus Station could be 'lost' over lease decision

The Bus Station could be moved to an alternative location

Edinburgh’s bus station could be forced to relocate after its owners told the city council its lease would not be extended.

Coal Pension Properties, which manages investments for former coal workers’ pension schemes, could look to sell the Elder Street site for housing.

The local authority’s tenancy of the transport hub is due to expire in 2027.

No replacement site has been identified, but the council’s transport spokesperson admitted the facility could be “lost”.

Councillor Scott Arthur the authority was “considering his options”.

He said he was “disappointed that such a modern and well used piece of Edinburgh’s substitutable transport infrastructure may be lost”.

It is understood Ingliston Park and Ride could be used as a temporary measure if the station were to close, though councillors would prefer a site closer to the city centre.

The 18-stance station originally opened in 1957, but closed in 2000 as part of a £50m redevelopment project which also included the Harvey Nichols department store.

A row over the fees for operators to use the station briefly threatened its reopening, with plans drawn up to move it to the nearby Waverley Railway Station in order to connect buses with train services.

However it became operational again in February 2003 – four months after its initially scheduled completion date.

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A spokesperson for the Edinburgh Bus Users Group (EBUG) accused the firm of trying to “throw buses out” of the capital.

They said: “Buses go from Edinburgh bus station almost all over Scotland and further afield, so it’s very worrying to hear it is under threat.

“It’s not the grandest of its type, but what’s important is whether it does the job, which it does, much better than some.

“A bus station isn’t like an airport. Anyone seriously thinking of redeveloping the bus station needs to answer the question of just how the city, including this site, is to function if they’ve squeezed public transport out of every key space,” they added.

Reporting by local democracy journalist Donald Turvill.