Helmsdale railway station
Helmsdale ![]() | |
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Scottish Gaelic: Bun Ilidh[1] | |
![]() A train to Wick arrives at Helmsdale on 16 June 2009 | |
Location | |
Place | Helmsdale |
Local authority | Highland |
Coordinates | 58°07′04″N 3°39′32″W / 58.1177°N 3.6590°WCoordinates: 58°07′04″N 3°39′32″W / 58.1177°N 3.6590°W |
Grid reference | ND023155 |
Operations | |
Station code | HMS |
Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
Number of platforms | 2 |
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
Annual rail passenger usage* | |
2012/13 |
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2013/14 |
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2014/15 |
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2015/16 |
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2016/17 |
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History | |
Original company | Duke of Sutherland's Railway |
Pre-grouping | Highland Railway |
Post-grouping |
London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Railways |
28 July 1874 | Opened |
National Rail – UK railway stations | |
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Helmsdale from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Helmsdale railway station is a railway station serving the village of Helmsdale in the Highland council area, northern Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line.
The station opened on 28 July 1874.[2] The station buildings were designed by the architect William Fowler.
On 29 April 1891 there was a collision between a down mixed train from Inverness which ran into an engine which had arrived earlier. Major Marindin of the Board of Trade investigated and found that the driver Robert Lindsay deliberately ignored the signals as he would have had difficulty in re-starting the train on the rising gradient of 1 in 59.[3]
The station master's house on the platform was abandoned in the 1980s. In 2013 it was refitted as self-catering holiday accommodation.[4]
The station is 101 miles 40 chains (163.3 km) from Inverness, and has a passing loop 23 chains (460 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the up (southbound) line can accommodate trains having six coaches, whereas platform 2 on the down (northbound) line can hold seven.[5]
Services
Mondays to Saturdays, there are four train each way that call here - southbound to Dingwall & Inverness and northbound to Wick via Thurso. Sundays see a single departure each way.[6]
Preceding station | ![]() |
Following station | ||
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Brora | Abellio ScotRail Far North Line |
Kildonan | ||
Historical railways | ||||
West Helmsdale Line open, station closed |
Highland Railway![]() Sutherland and Caithness Railway ![]() |
Salzcraggie Platform Line open, station closed |
References
- ↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
- ↑ "The Sunderland and Caithness Railway". The Scotsman. British Newspaper Archive. 27 July 1874. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Helmsdale. Board of Trade Report". Aberdeen Evening Express. British Newspaper Archive. 15 June 1891. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Self Catering Accommodation on a working railway station in the north of Scotland". Helmsdale Station. Helmsdale Station CIC. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ↑ Brailsford 2017, map 20C.
- ↑ Table 239 National Rail timetable, May 2016.
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