The station is the rebuilt
Dundee Tay Bridge railway station, which had been built by the
North British Railway in 1878 as part of the
Tay Rail Bridge project. It was originally one of three main stations in Dundee, along with
Dundee West station, the
Caledonian Railway station for Perth which was rebuilt in 1889-1890 and closed in the 1960s, and Dundee East station on the
Dundee and Arbroath Joint Railway which closed in 1959. It is located in cutting at the south end of Camperdown tunnel, which passes beneath the town's former docks (now filled in) and required permanent pumping to keep dry. The station is consequently sited below sea level. In the nineteenth century plans were put forward to concentrate all Dundee's railway facilities in a new central station, with the idea first being mooted by
John Leng in 1864 in his role as editor of the
Dundee Advertiser. The idea re-emerged in 1872 following the start of work on the
Tay Rail Bridge and again in 1896. Various sites for the scheme were suggested including building it between the High Street and the harbour and between the Murraygate and the Meadows. However, none of these proposals were ever realised and the three distinct stations survived as independent entities. Today, the only other remaining station within Dundee City boundaries is . Both and stations are located very close to the city's boundaries, but lie in
Angus and
Perth and Kinross. As part of the redevelopment of Dundee city centre in the 1960s the original public entrance of Dundee Tay Bridge station was demolished to accommodate the new
Tay Road Bridge offramps, with a new smaller structure replacing it. A footbridge connected the new station building to the city's Union Street to allow pedestrians to cross the busy inner ring road safely. In 2005, the footbridge was demolished in two phases as part of a regeneration project called the Dundee Central Waterfront Development Plan. This project, which has included removal of the 1970s public entrance to the station, will attempt to restructure the approach roads to the Tay Road Bridge and create a new civic space, as well as making way for the new railway station.
New station A new £38m railway station was built in 2018; it replaced the old station as part of the Dundee waterfront regeneration project. The designer of the station was Dundee-based architecture firm Nicoll Russell Studios in collaboration with
Jacobs Engineering Group; construction work was carried out by
Balfour Beatty. Construction began in late 2015 and a temporary entrance was established on Riverside Drive. The new station was built over the site of the demolished old station. It includes a five-storey, curved building that houses the new station entrance, concourse and access points on the first and underground floors as well as a 120-room Sleeperz Hotel occupying the upper floors. Construction of the new railway station was completed in early June and it was opened alongside the new Sleeperz Hotel on 9 July 2018 by Dundee West MSP & then Minister for Public Health and Sport
Joe FitzPatrick, Lord Provost Ian Borthwick and representatives from Dundee City Council. == Facilities ==