Since Christmas, work has been taking place to conserve, maintain and protect the listed building areas of the station, which has sat in the heart of Aberdeen city centre for more than 150 years.

The train operator is also redeveloping staff accommodation and building additional operational staff areas around platform two to allow for future growth.

Much of that work has been unseen by customers, however, from now on, there will be more visible construction in the main concourse area which will have a major impact on the appearance of the station.

Five large Customer Information Screens are being taken down temporarily to be replaced by two smaller screens in the same location.

The existing ticket office and first-class lounge will be relocated to this area to allow for additional high value retail space to be created. The existing concourse retail units will also be refurbished during this next phase of works.

This phase of the construction is expected to be completed by the middle of May 2021 and when the project is concluded by Winter 2021 it will have delivered:

• Significant enhancement of the quality and variety of station retail facilities.
• Improvements to the taxi rank area and enhanced cycle parking.
• Relocation of the existing ticket office and first-class lounge to create additional high value retail areas.
• Improved visibility of the ticket office, creating an improved ticket retail environment and lounge.
• Improved station entrance and connectivity with Union Square and the wider Aberdeen city centre.
• Redevelopment of staff accommodation and additional operational staff areas to allow for future growth.
• Works to enhance the listed station building in partnership with the Railway Heritage Trust.

Kirsty Devlin, ScotRail head of projects & PMO, said: “This is a really exciting time for rail users in this part of Scotland.

“The £8m investment in Aberdeen station is all part of ScotRail’s plan to deliver better facilities and a more modern railway for customers when coronavirus restrictions are lifted and we see passengers returning to the rail network.”