Kildonan railway station

Kildonan railway station is a railway station near Kildonan Lodge in the Highland council area in the north of Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line. Trains stop on request.

Kildonan Scottish Gaelic: Cill Donnain[1]
Kildonan station as it was in September 2018, taken from the level crossing at the southern end of the station.
Location	Kildonan near Helmsdale, Highland Scotland
Coordinates	58.1708°N 3.8691°W / 58.1708; -3.8691
Grid reference	NC901217
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	KIL
History
Original company	Sutherland and Caithness Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Railways
Key dates
28 July 1874	Opened
Passengers
2015/16	170
2016/17	76
2017/18	206
2018/19	168
2019/20	214
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station opened on 28 July 1874.[2] On 7 February 1884 there was an accident at the station. A special fish train from Wick approached the station when it derailed and ploughed up several hundred yards of track. The fireman, Alexander Campbell of Wick, died and the engine driver, David Mathieson of Wick was badly injured.[3]

In 1952 the station was awarded a special class award in the British Railway (Scottish Region) Best Kept Stations Competition.[4]

It is currently served by four trains each day (Mon-Sat) to Inverness and three trains in the opposite direction to Wick (via Thurso), with one train in each direction on a Sunday.[5] Due to the extremely sparse and small population it serves, Kildonan is one of the least used stations in the country, although its reputation means that it has a higher patronage than would be expected. It is currently the 16th least used railway station in the United Kingdom and the 2nd least used on the Far North Line.

The station is 111 miles 5 chains (178.7 km) from Inverness, and has a single platform which is long enough for a three-coach train.[6]

On the 10 June 2018, it was announced that Hitrans had proposed the station for closure, shaving four minutes off journey times on the Inverness to Thurso/Wick route and put application in to Transport Scotland to consider the proposals.[7] However following objections by three local councillors Hitrans had withdrawn the application.[8]