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Friday 6 Feb 2009

STATION BAR TAKES JOURNEY INTO EDINBURGH’S PAST

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Edinburgh Waverley’s famous station bar reopens as ‘The Nor Loch’ today (Friday 6 Feb) after a six-figure refurbishment of the premises.

Named after the expanse of water which originally occupied the site of Waverley Station and Princes Street Gardens, the bar has been completely rebuilt by leading travel food and beverage operator, SSP UK, who run the bar as tenants of Network Rail.

The work will involve a completely new bar area, with furniture, flooring and décor all receiving a makeover. New toilets have been installed and an enhanced kitchen facility will allow the bar to offer an improved menu to station users. The bar will also offer 45 variants of whiskies and two quality cask ale choices.

The bar, formerly Coopers, has remained closed for the past three weeks while the work was carried out. The new name was suggested by Willie Watson, Network Rail’s Station Interface Manager at the station. He will pick up his reward, an off duty drink of his choice, when the bar opens on Friday afternoon.

Jonathan Mitchell, SSP UK Operations Manager at Edinburgh Waverley said:

“This investment is an important addition to the station facilities. The Cooper’s Bar was popular with customers but we recognised that some of the furniture and décor was getting a bit tired. This upgrade has really revitalised the bar without losing its character and we really believe it will enhance the travelling experience for customers using the station.”

Network Rail’s Willie Watson commented:

“Waverley is one of the most unique stations in the British railway network and we’re very proud that the newly refurbished bar now has a name to reflect the originality of its setting. I’m looking forward to seeing station users enjoying this fantastic new facility.”

The Nor Loch was drained in 1759 to allow for the building of Edinburgh’s New Town. As well as providing the Old Town with a natural defensive barrier, the loch itself was used for a variety of nefarious purposes including witch dunking and smuggling. Waverley Station was built in its present form in 1854.

Waverley Station has seen a number of improvements to its facilities in recent months with and Café Nero opening on the north side of the station in December 2008 and £50,000 spent on new toilets earlier last year.

ENDS