Kingussie railway station

Kingussie National Rail
Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich[1]
Location
Place Kingussie
Local authority Highland
Coordinates 57°04′39″N 4°03′15″W / 57.0776°N 4.0543°W / 57.0776; -4.0543Coordinates: 57°04′39″N 4°03′15″W / 57.0776°N 4.0543°W / 57.0776; -4.0543
Grid reference NH756004
Operations
Station code KIN
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 Increase 40,954
2013/14 Increase 41,400
2014/15 Increase 42,522
2015/16 Increase 42,850
2016/17 Increase 44,200
History
Original company Inverness and Perth Junction Railway
Pre-grouping Highland Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
9 September 1863 Station 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 Kingussie from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Kingussie railway station serves the town of Kingussie, Inverness-shire in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line.

History

The Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (I&PJ) was authorised in 1861 for a line between Forres and Dunkeld.[2] It was built quickly, and was opened in sections; the last stretch, that between Aviemore and Pitlochry, was opened on 9 September 1863; and one of the original stations was that at Kingussie.[3][4] The current station buildings date from 1893 by the architect William Roberts.[5]

The I&PJ amalgamated with other railways to form the Highland Railway (HR) in 1865,[6] and at the 1923 Grouping the HR became part of the newly formed London, Midland and Scottish Railway.[7] The adjacent stations were Kincraig to the north, and Newtonmore to the south,[8] although the former has now closed.[9]

It is 71 miles 43 chains (115.1 km) from Perth,[10] located in Ruthven Road, Kingussie, about 200 yards south-east of the High Street. There are two platforms, both of conventional height. The Up line platform used to be at a slightly lower height, which was originally built to allow cattle to easily transfer to and from the wagons, and onto the adjacent market stance to the south of the station. This meant passengers had to be careful when alighting from a train as not all doors were given a portable step on the platform, and was not good for those with accessibility issues. In 2017, the platform was rebuilt to standard height. The station buildings are on the Down platform. A level crossing takes Ruthven Road over both tracks at the Inverness end of the station, with the local signal box at that end of the Up platform. The station is on the mainly single-track line from Inverness to Perth, and has a passing loop 33 chains (660 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the down (northbound) line can accommodate trains having twelve coaches, whereas platform 2 on the up (southbound) line can hold thirteen.[10]

Kingussie High School is close to the station, as are also the Highland Council offices serving the Badenoch and Strathspey area.

Services

There are eleven daily departures each way from the station (Mon-Sat), plus the Caledonian Sleeper (Sun- Fri nights southbound, calls to pick up only; Mon-Sat northbound). Seven of these run to Edinburgh Waverley and the others to Glasgow Queen Street. There is a daily through service to and from London King's Cross via Edinburgh and Newcastle (the Highland Chieftain).

On Sundays there are seven departures each way including the Kings Cross train, along with the southbound sleeper.[11]

From 2018, this station will be one of those to benefit from a package of timetable enhancements introduced by Transport Scotland and Scotrail. The current Perth to Inverness timetable will increase to hourly each way, with trains south of there running on alternate hours to Edinburgh & Glasgow. Journey times will also be reduced by 10 minutes to both cities.[12]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Newtonmore   London North Eastern Railway
East Coast Main Line		   Aviemore
Newtonmore   Abellio ScotRail
Highland Main Line		   Aviemore
Newtonmore   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper		   Aviemore
  Historical railways  
Newtonmore
Line and station open		   Highland Railway
Inverness and Perth Junction Railway		   Kincraig
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. ↑ Vallance, H.A.; Clinker, C.R.; Lambert, Anthony J. (1985) [1938]. The Highland Railway (4th ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-946537-24-0.
  3. ↑ Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 25
  4. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 135. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  5. ↑ The Buildings of Scotland, Highland and Islands. John Gifford. Yale University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-300-09625-9
  6. ↑ Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 29
  7. ↑ Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 154
  8. ↑ Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 33, sections A2–A3. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
  9. ↑ Butt 1995, p. 133
  10. 1 2 Brailsford 2017, map 19C.
  11. ↑ GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 229
  12. ↑ "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine.Transport Scotland press release 15 March 2016; Retrieved 18 August 2016
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.