Altnabreac railway station

Altnabreac railway station is a rural railway station located in the Highland council area of Scotland. It serves the area of Altnabreac – a settlement in which the station itself is the main component – in the historic county of Caithness. The station is on a private dirt road between Loch More and Forsinain, which is marked as a cycle trail on Ordnance Survey maps.

Altnabreac
Scottish Gaelic: Allt nam Breac[1]
Altnabreac railway station
Location
PlaceAltnabreac
Local authorityHighland
Coordinates58.3882°N 3.7059°W / 58.3882; -3.7059
Grid referenceND003456
Operations
Station codeABC
Managed byAbellio ScotRail
Number of platforms1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 240
2015/16 312
2016/17 356
2017/18 658
2018/19 408
History
Original companySutherland and Caithness Railway
Pre-groupingHighland Railway
Post-groupingLMSR
28 July 1874Opened[2]
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Altnabreac from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station is situated on the Far North Line, 133 miles 76 chains (215.6 km) down the line from Inverness[3] and approximately 27 1⁄2 miles (44.3 km) from Wick.[4] It has a single platform which is long enough to accommodate a four-carriage train.[3]

Being about 6.8 miles (11 km) away from the nearest paved road and 11 miles (18 km) away from the nearest village, Altnabreac is often listed as one of Britain's most geographically isolated railway stations, alongside Corrour elsewhere in Scotland and Berney Arms in Norfolk.[5] The nearest village is Westerdale, which itself is in fact closer to Scotscalder station. Nevertheless, despite its isolation, the station is used by walkers and off-road cyclists, as well as railway enthusiasts and those who enjoy visiting remote locations. In the 2018–19 financial year the station saw 408 passengers, making it the 28th least-used station in the United Kingdom, although four other stations on the Far North Line had even fewer passengers, including neighbouring Scotscalder.[6]

The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail, which also operates all trains serving the station.

History

The station was opened by the Sutherland and Caithness Railway on 28 July 1874[2] and later absorbed by the Highland Railway.[7]

The reason for the station's construction is a mystery. At the time of construction it was 8 miles (13 km) from the nearest settlement and 10 miles (16 km) from the nearest road.[8] The only source of traffic at the station, Lochdhu Lodge, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south, was not built until 1895 and the Altnabreac School was not built until 1930. However, it had a passing loop with a water tank so may have been established for purely operational reasons.

Taken into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, the line then passed on to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced by British Rail, the station became part of ScotRail until the Privatisation of British Rail.

Services
Train approaching the station.

On weekdays and Saturdays, the service pattern from the station consists of four trains per day northbound to Wick via Thurso and three trains per day southbound to Inverness via Helmsdale, Golspie, Lairg, Tain and Dingwall. (There is a fourth train bound for Inverness but it is not scheduled to call at Altnabreac.) On Sundays there is just one train per day each way.[9]

This station is designated as a request stop. This means that passengers intending to alight must inform the guard in advance, and any passengers wishing to board must ensure they are in view of the train driver, and are required to use a hand signal to stop the train.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Forsinard   Abellio ScotRail
Far North Line		   Scotscalder
  Historical railways  
Forsinard
Line and station open		   Highland Railway
Sutherland and Caithness Railway
   Scotscalder
Line and station open

References

Notes
  1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. Butt (1995), page 15
  3. Brailsford 2017, map 20D.
  4. British Rail Passenger Timetable, summer 1992, p1342
  5. Caton, Peter (28 August 2018). Remote Stations. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-78901-408-2.
  6. Office of Rail Regulation: Station Usage
  7. "The Sunderland and Caithness Railway". The Scotsman. British Newspaper Archive. 27 July 1874. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "They're just loco - Britain's most bizarre train stations". The Express. 31 March 2014.
  9. Table 239 National Rail timetable, May 2017

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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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.
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