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Railway station, opened in 1867 and rebuilt 1913-20. By the 1860s there were a number of rival routes serving Aberdeen's stations. The Deeside Railway had opened in 1853 and amalgamated with the Great North of Scotland Railway by 1876 (the latter had leased the line since 1862). The Caledonian Railway had absorbed the Aberdeen Railway in 1866. Originally each of the two railway companies operating within Aberdeen (Caledonian Railway and GNSR) had their own station, at Guild Street (NJ90NW0077) and Waterloo Quay (NJ90NW0677). In order to connect the Caledonian and Great North of Scotland systems it was proposed that a line should run from Kittybrewster, joining with the Caledonian Railway line near Ferryhill. The construction of a railway from Kittybrewster to a new station on Guild Street, the Joint Station began in 1864.The original joint station was built by John Morgan and consisted of three through tracks with one long through platform and two bay platforms at each end. John Morgan, 1844-1907, became an apprentice builder in 1862. In his long and varied career he was responsible for a number of notable buildings, including the frontage to Marischal College, Canada House, the Central Library and the Northern Insurance Building (known locally as the monkey house). He was also a councillor from 1885-1892, during which time he was involved in planning Rosemount Viaduct. When the Joint Station opened in 1867, it was thought to be of grand design. It consisted of a main booking office in the centre, with the booking offices for the Caledonian Railway and the Great North of Scotland Railway at either side. The tracks had been widened on the approach from the south. An early criticism was that the station acted as a form of wind tunnel, making it draughty for passengers. Later a third company, the North British Railway Company, based in Edinburgh, shared the Caledonian tracks between Kinnaber (near Montrose) and Aberdeen. By 1908 locomotives of the Inverness based Highland Railway, a project were to be seen on the through trains to Aberdeen. By the turn of the century the station had become inadequate for the increased level of traffic, including the suburban services to Dyce and Culter. In 1909 a new Suburban Booking Office (NJ90NW0431) was built on the corner of Bridge Street and Guild Street. Reconstruction of the Joint Station began in 1913 by Mr JA Parker, the chief engineer of the GNSR. The platforms were in use by 1914 but the station was not finally completed until after World War I. The station then had 12 platforms, through and terminal. The station building is a long single storey with near central Beaux-Arts 5-bay, 2- storey polygonal entrance pavilion with full length cantilevered canopy and asymmetrical pavilions to north and south. The central pavilion is of sandstone, the outer ones of granite. Inside the booking hall the counters had curved wood panels and curved roof trusses. The platforms had steel frames with individual awnings, supported by cast iron columns. To the north of the station is a road overbridge of circa 1909 or 1913, a rivetted and latticed 2-span steel bowstring bridge with a pedestrian girder bridge either side. Closure of the suburban train service was announced in 1937. The station was officially renamed Aberdeen in 1952 although local people continued to refer to it as the Joint Station for many years. The north end of the station was drastically cut back in 1973, platforms were demolished and the dated ticket hall with its varnished woodwork and small windows was closed in 1978 to make way for the new travel centre. The station was further modernised in the 1980s, with marble tiling and big glass screens, and television monitors provide arrival and departure information. The northern end of the station was refurbished to provide car parking. A further upgrade saw the station roof rebuilt in 1998, as part of a £3 million programme. Today at the north end of the station there are only the two through platforms still in operation for passengers. Within the station is a war memorial dedicated to employees of the GNSR killed in the First World War.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW0073 - ABERDEEN JOINT STATION