It was on Commercial Street, near the Leith Docks.

It served as a terminus in terms of passenger traffic but a freight-only branch on its west side continued into Leith Docks.

It was designed by Grainger & Miller and being one of the earliest railway structures it adopts a Georgian rather than "Victorian railway" style.

[2] It was converted into a pub called the "Steamboat Inn" around 1950 which closed around 1980 when it was then restored by the Scottish Development Agency as one of the "Leith Project" schemes for community use.

Leith Citadel station is a Category B listed building and is one of the remaining structures from the original line.