Ayrshire Coast Line

Ayrshire Coast Line
Class 380 train at Troon
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Scotland
Stations	26
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Abellio ScotRail And Strathclyde Passenger Transport
Rolling stock	Class 380 Class 314(Peak times)
Technical
Number of tracks	Triple track, Double track and Single line
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz AC
Route map Glasgow Central ( St Enoch) Cardonald Hillington East Hillington West Paisley Gilmour Street Inverclyde Line Johnstone Milliken Park Largs to Great Cumbrae to Arran Ardrossan Harbour Fairlie Ardrossan Town West Kilbride Howwood Ardrossan South Beach Lochwinnoch Saltcoats Glengarnock Stevenston Dalry Kilwinning Irvine Barassie Glasgow South Western Line to Larne Troon Prestwick International Airport Prestwick Town Newton-on-Ayr to Cairnryan Harbour Ayr Glasgow South Western Line

The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow. There are three branches, to Largs, Ardrossan Harbour and Ayr, all running into the high level at Glasgow Central. All trains call at Kilwinning (with the exception of the 1745 Glasgow-Ayr, which runs non stop between Paisley and Irvine) and most trains call at Paisley Gilmour Street.

The route is operated by Abellio ScotRail.

History

The Largs branch in steam days

The Ayrshire Coast Line consists of lines that were formerly part of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway, the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway, the Ardrossan Railway and its Largs Branch extension.

After electrification

1986

Class 318 trains at Paisley Gilmour Street in 1990

The line to Ayr was electrified and Class 318 electric multiple units introduced by British Rail in September 1986. The full electrified service, including trains to Largs and Ardrossan Harbour, commenced on 19 January 1987.^[1] These were supplemented by occasional use of Class 303 and Class 311 EMUs, then in use on the Inverclyde Line.

These EMUs replaced the Class 101 and Class 107 DMUs that had served the line for over 30 years. Class 126 DMUs were also used on the line, but they succumbed to old age in the early 1980s.

Route

A Class 318 near Irvine

The line runs along the same Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway route as the Inverclyde Line as far as Paisley Gilmour Street, using different platforms at Paisley Gilmour Street, where it turns south west towards Kilwinning on the route of the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. Here the line branches in two, with one branch running south along the coast to Troon and Ayr. This branch also serves Prestwick Airport station, which opened in 1994. The other branch runs north along the coast to Ardrossan or Largs, becoming a single track for passenger trains after Saltcoats. This part of the network is heavily used by freight traffic to carry coal from the Hunterston Terminal. Beyond Ayr, 'Sprinter' DMUs continue south towards Girvan and Stranraer.

The line connects at Troon with ferries to Larne (summers only), at Ardrossan to Brodick on the Isle of Arran, and at Largs to Great Cumbrae.

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ayrshire Coast Line.

• "The long wait is over for Ayrshire project". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. April 1983. p. 42. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.