The station represented the launch of a new age of travelling opportunities to the Scottish capital, being the first intercity route to be built and offering a previously unheard of journey time of two and a half hours between Scotland's two largest cities.

Haymarket TMD, a service and maintenance depot, is located 0.6 miles (1 km) west of the station, on the north side of the railway, adjacent to Murrayfield Stadium.

[5] During 1983, British Rail performed some alterations to the station; Haymarket's original train shed was demolished and moved to Bo'ness, while its footbridge was replaced by a smaller counterpart and new platform canopies were installed.

According to industry publication Rail Engineer, by 2012, Haymarket possessed one of the oldest station buildings and ticket offices in the whole of the United Kingdom; the old facility was small and the 1980s-era footbridge was relatively narrow, factors which did not lend themselves to a huge expansion in passenger footfall.

[10] The installation of passenger lifts to enable all platforms to be fully accessible to those with reduced mobility, in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act, was one major change enacted during 2011.

[7] The design produced centered around the construction of brand new station building, the interior of which accommodates ten times the amount of public space for passengers as its predecessor.

[9] The redeveloped station also features a new main entrance, in addition to the retention of its earlier entryway, which also provides for direct pedestrian access to the new tram route passing through Haymarket Terrace.

The new building is connected to all of the station's platforms via a newly built, wider footbridge, which was provisioned with both lifts and escalators, along with special event stairs to facilitate excellent access to the nearby Murrayfield Stadium.

Some design changes had to be incorporated before planning permission would be granted; in one case, the proposed copper cladding had to be replaced by a black granite and zinc counterpart.

[7][5] Where possible, items were partially built off-site before being transported and moved into position using large cranes, such as the steelwork for the new footbridge, which minimised passenger impact and was considered to be more safe.

According to Network Rail's project manager Tom McPake, work typically involved no disruption to train services as it only required rules of the route possessions; keeping the station operational throughout was described as being the main challenge.