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Young Passengers, Big Smiles: LNER Launches Family Lounge at Edinburgh Waverley Station

03/12/2025

Young Passengers, Big Smiles: LNER Launches Family Lounge at Edinburgh Waverley Station

LNER, in partnership with Edinburgh’s Christmas, brought festive fun to Edinburgh Waverley to celebrate the opening of its new Family Lounge, transforming Scotland’s busiest railway station into a hub of festive cheer.

The Family Lounge is the third to be opened by LNER and follows the successes of others at London King’s Cross and York stations.

Located within the historic customer atrium accessible from the main concourse, the vibrant new area is a great place to visit for families travelling with any train operator. Whether it is ahead of a journey to destinations across the East Coast Main Line and beyond, or after arriving in Edinburgh at the start of a trip to the Scotland’s capital city, there’s plenty of opportunity for fun.

A wide shot of the play area at the LNER Family Lounge in Edinburgh. It features a castle themed play frame and a large cutout of the LNER Mascot, 'Eleanor'.

The lounge features a children’s play area based on Edinburgh Castle, specially commissioned murals featuring the iconic Forth Rail Bridge and other famous Scottish landmarks. Other features include beach huts with tabletop games, interactive games, soft flooring and crawl spaces. There are also infinity sensory screens, unique to the Edinburgh Waverley Family Lounge.

There is also plenty of space for parents and carers to sit back and relax with sofas, wooden bench seating, and coffee tables, as well as a comfortable and discreet space for breastfeeding.

A child in a green Christmas jumper colours in some Christmas related colouring sheets.

In celebration of this new addition to Edinburgh Waverley, passengers and customers were treated to a Christmas spectacular featuring Father Christmas, surprise visits from beloved panto characters, and exclusive festive giveaways from three of the capital’s biggest teams — Heart of Midlothian FC, Hibernian FC, and Edinburgh Rugby.

A child in a grey jumper holds an LNER electric toy train set alongside Father Christmas in his usual red and white suit.

Colette Casey, LNER Customer Experience Director said: “Our new Family Lounge in Edinburgh sees LNER continuing to lead the way when it comes to making rail travel more attractive and inclusive for families. Millions of customers start or end their journey at Edinburgh each year, and we can’t wait for our family travellers to experience and enjoy this new, exciting space.”

Two children, both in blue jackets, interacting with a large screen which has different electronic games on.

Directors of Unique Assembly, who create and produce Edinburgh's Christmas, said: "We were thrilled to bring extra seasonal sparkle to Waverley Station for families travelling to and from Edinburgh, with a special surprise visit from Santa himself. The new LNER Family Lounge is a fantastic addition to the station, helping make festive journeys to the capital's spectacular Christmas attractions even more magical!”

Opening alongside the Family Lounge is a new Passenger Assist Lounge in the main customer atrium. The bespoke Lounge provides customers who require additional help when travelling with a comfortable, quiet space to wait ahead of their journey. It is also the main meeting point for customers who need Passenger Assist while travelling by train.

The new LNER Passenger Assist lounge. It shows blue coloured seating, including sofas and individual chairs. There are also station wheelchairs lined up against the green wall.