Helensburgh Upper railway station

Helensburgh Upper National Rail
Scottish Gaelic: Baile Eilidh Àrd[1]
Helensburgh Upper station
Location
Place Helensburgh
Local authority Argyll and Bute
Coordinates 56°00′45″N 4°43′49″W / 56.0124°N 4.7304°W / 56.0124; -4.7304Coordinates: 56°00′45″N 4°43′49″W / 56.0124°N 4.7304°W / 56.0124; -4.7304
Grid reference NS298833
Operations
Station code HLU
Managed by Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms 1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Decrease 14,072
2013/14 Decrease 11,964
2014/15 Increase 15,731
2015/16 Decrease 15,127
2016/17 Decrease 14,276
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE SPT
History
Original company West Highland Railway
Pre-grouping North British Railway
Post-grouping LNER
7 August 1894 Opened[2][3]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Helensburgh Upper from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Helensburgh Upper railway station (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Eilidh Ard) serves the town of Helensburgh, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde to the west of Glasgow. It is located in a residential area uphill from the town centre and is by far the smaller of the town's two stations.

History

The station opened in 1894.[2]

Originally built with an island platform in a cutting, the Up platform was taken out of use in 1968 although the station building remained in use for another few years. Until the 1960s, the station was served by a local shuttle service between Craigendoran and Arrochar & Tarbet in addition to main line trains to Fort William and Mallaig. Latterly operated by a Wickham diesel railbus, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in 1964.[4]

Location

It is located on the West Highland Line, 25 1⁄2 miles (41.0 km) north west of Glasgow Queen Street and is served by services to Oban and Fort William/Mallaig.

The station is within a short walk of the Hill House, built by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and now preserved by the National Trust for Scotland. By using Helensburgh Upper station to visit the Hill House, visitors can avoid the walk uphill from Helensburgh Central railway station. However, Helensburgh Upper has an infrequent train service compared with that available to and from Helensburgh Central.[5]

Services

On Monday to Saturdays, there are 6 trains per day each way, 3 to Oban only, 3 to Oban, Fort William and Mallaig (combined portions) and 6 to Glasgow Queen Street (High Level). On Sundays there are 3 trains to Glasgow and three in the opposite direction - one to Oban and two combined Oban/Mallaig trains in the summer, 2 Oban & one combined service in winter.[6] The station is also served by the Caledonian Sleeper between London Euston and Fort William via Queen Street Low Level and Edinburgh Waverley six days per week (no service southbound on Saturday night or northbound on a Sunday morning).

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Dumbarton Central   Abellio ScotRail
West Highland Line		   Garelochhead
Dumbarton Central   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper		   Garelochhead
  Historical railways  
Craigendoran Upper
Line open; Station closed		   North British Railway
West Highland Railway
   Rhu (Row)
Line open; Station closed

Signalling

The original (1894) signal box at Helensburgh Upper was replaced on 21 December 1941. That signal box closed on 21 July 1968, when the crossing loop was removed.

On 27 March 1988, Helensburgh Upper became the southern extremity of the Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB) signalling on the West Highland Line. A two-aspect colour light signal installed at the east end of the platform controls entry into the Craigendoran signal box (since superseded by Yoker IECC) Track Circuit Block signalling area. The RETB system was installed by British Rail.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. 1 2 Butt (1995)
  3. ↑ RAILSCOT
  4. ↑ "The 'Wee Arrochar'"Helensburgh Heritage Trust website; Retrieved 27 April 2016
  5. ↑ http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/3828.aspx
  6. ↑ GB eNRT 2016 Edition, Table 227 (Network Rail)

Sources

  • Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • RAILSCOT on the West Highland Railway
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