Helmsdale railway station

Helmsdale National Rail
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°W / 58.1177; -3.6590Coordinates: 58°07′04″N 3°39′32″W / 58.1177°N 3.6590°W / 58.1177; -3.6590
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 Decrease 5,828
2013/14 Decrease 5,778
2014/15 Decrease 5,096
2015/16 Increase 6,204
2016/17 Decrease 5,768
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.
UK Railways portal

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 National Rail Following station
Brora   Abellio ScotRail
Far North Line		   Kildonan
  Historical railways  
West Helmsdale
Line open, station closed		   Highland Railway
Left arrow Duke of Sutherland's Railway
Sutherland and Caithness Railway Right arrow		   Salzcraggie Platform
Line open, station closed

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "The Sunderland and Caithness Railway". The Scotsman. British Newspaper Archive. 27 July 1874. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ "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)).
  4. ↑ "Self Catering Accommodation on a working railway station in the north of Scotland". Helmsdale Station. Helmsdale Station CIC. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Brailsford 2017, map 20C.
  6. ↑ Table 239 National Rail timetable, May 2016.
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