Aviemore railway station
Aviemore railway station serves the town and tourist resort of Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. The station, which is owned by Network Rail (NR) and managed by Abellio ScotRail, is on the Highland Main Line between Perth and Inverness, and is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey preserved railway.
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 Aviemore railway station in 2018 | |
| Location | Aviemore, Highland Scotland |
| Coordinates | 57.1886°N 3.8288°W |
| Grid reference | NH895123 |
| Owned by | Network Rail |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Platforms | 3 (2 National rail) (1 Strathspey Steam Railway) |
| Other information | |
| Station code | AVM |
| History | |
| Original company | Inverness and Perth Junction Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Highland Railway |
| Post-grouping | LMS |
| Key dates | |
| 3 August 1863 | Station opened |
| 1898 | Station rebuilt and expanded |
| Passengers | |
| 2015/16 |  0.152 million |
| Interchange | 56 |
| 2016/17 |  0.145 million |
| Interchange | 50 |
| 2017/18 | 0.148 million |
| Interchange | 44 |
| 2018/19 | 0.138 million |
| Interchange | 52 |
| 2019/20 | 0.133 million |
| Interchange | 177 |
Listed Building – Category A | |
| Designated | 18 August 1986 |
| Reference no. | LB257[2] |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
History
The line was opened by the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (I&PJR) in 1863,[3] subsequently becoming part of the Highland Railway.
The current station was opened in 1898,[4] to designs by the architect William Roberts[5] when the "direct" line to Inverness via Slochd was built, making Aviemore an important junction and replacing the original 1863 building. William Roberts also provided an engine shed to the north of the station in 1896.
It became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway after the Grouping of 1923, then passed on to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
The original I&PJR line to Forres fell victim to the Beeching Axe, closing to passengers in October 1965.
When Sectorisation was introduced by British Rail in the 1980s, the station was served by Scotrail until the Privatisation of British Rail.
In 1998 the station was restored and refurbished, and the Strathspey Railway was finally allowed to use the island platform. The island platform's three buildings were restored and brought back into use, having been derelict for many years, and a fourth was built from scratch. The new building comprises a ticket hall, booking office and shop, and the three original buildings are waiting rooms (with historical displays), staff offices, and toilets. Parking, reached from the Rothiemurchus road in the south of the town, is on the station's east side, and passenger access to the Strathspey part of the station is via a foot-crossing across the junction spur. This foot crossing also provides disabled access to platform 2. This is the second biggest railway station in Highland (Council area), after Inverness.
Following the moving of services, the Strathspey Railway closed their Aviemore (Speyside) railway station. The platform remains, as fears over asbestos contamination have stalled its removal. The original footbridge also still stands but is unsafe.
Description
Road access to the NR station building is from Grampian Road, to the west of the line. A canopied island platform, connected to the station building by a footbridge, lies beyond the two main-line tracks, and the further (eastern) platform face of this island is used by Strathspey trains. The junction between the Strathspey Railway and Network Rail lies to the south of the station and is controlled from the station signal box, which also controls a large portion of the main line either side of here (from Kingussie all the way to Culloden Moor since 1979) as well as the immediate station area.[6]
The station is 83 miles 31 chains (134.2 km) from Perth, and has a passing loop 40 chains (800 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the down (northbound) line can accommodate trains having fourteen coaches, whereas platform 2 on the up (southbound) line can hold fifteen.[7]
Services
Services are provided by Abellio ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, and London North Eastern Railway on the Highland Main Line and Strathspey Railway on the former Inverness and Perth Junction Railway to Boat of Garten and Broomhill.
In the May 2016 timetable, there are seven trains each weekday to Edinburgh Waverley (including the Highland Chieftain to London King's Cross) and four to Glasgow Queen Street southbound, plus the overnight sleeper to London Euston (the latter does not run southbound on Saturday nights & northbound on Sundays). Northbound there are twelve departures to Inverness.
On Sundays there are five trains to Edinburgh (including the King's Cross service) and two to Glasgow, along with seven to Inverness.[8]
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.[9]
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingussie | Abellio ScotRail Highland Main Line |
Carrbridge or Inverness | ||
| Kingussie | London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line |
Carrbridge or Inverness | ||
| Kingussie | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper |
Carrbridge or Inverness | ||
 Heritage railways |
||||
| Terminus | Strathspey Railway | Boat of Garten | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Kincraig Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Perth Junction Railway  |
Boat of Garten Line and station open | ||
| Highland Railway Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway |
Carrbridge Line and station open | |||
References
Notes
- Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- "AVIEMORE RAILWAY STATION WITH ISLAND PLATFORM, FOOTBRIDGE AND FENCING". Historic Scotland. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- Butt (1995), page 21
- RAILSCOT
- The Buildings of Scotland, Highland and Islands. John Gifford. Yale University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-300-09625-9
- Scottish Signal Boxes Archived 20 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Jessop, R; "Ronrail"; Retrieved 2013-12-20
- Brailsford 2017, map 19D.
- GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 229
- "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback MachineTransport Scotland press release 15 March 2016; Retrieved 18 August 2016
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 (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
- 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.
- Station on navigable O.S. map
- RAILSCOT on Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway
- RAILSCOT on Inverness and Perth Junction Railway
Further reading
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aviemore railway station. |