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Garelochhead railway station

Coordinates: 56°04′48″N 4°49′31″W / 56.0801°N 4.8254°W / 56.0801; -4.8254
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Garelochhead

Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Gheàrrloch[1]
National Rail
View north towards Arrochar & Tarbet
General information
LocationGarelochhead, Argyll and Bute
Scotland
Coordinates56°04′48″N 4°49′31″W / 56.0801°N 4.8254°W / 56.0801; -4.8254
Grid referenceNS242910
Managed byScotRail
Transit authoritySPT
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeGCH[2]
History
Original companyWest Highland Railway
Pre-groupingNorth British Railway
Post-groupingLNER
Key dates
7 August 1894Opened
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 8,818
2019/20Decrease 8,594
2020/21Decrease 1,678
2021/22Increase 8,478
2022/23Increase 10,030
Listed Building – Category B
Designated8 July 1988
Reference no.LB19490[3]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Garelochhead railway station (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Gheàrrloch) is a railway station serving the village of Garelochhead, on the Gare Loch, in Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line and is a boundary station for SPT. It is sited 8 miles 76 chains (14.4 km) from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh, between Arrochar and Tarbet and Helensburgh Upper.[4] ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, with others provided by Caledonian Sleeper.

History

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The station seen in 1996. Note the overgrown siding on the right.

This station opened to passengers on 7 August 1894.[5]

The station was laid out with a crossing loop and an island platform. There were sidings on both sides, and a turntable on the west side of the line.[6]

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939.[7] A camping coach was also positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1964 to 1967.[8]

Until the 1960s, the station was served by a local shuttle service between Craigendoran and Arrochar & Tarbet in addition to main line trains to Fort William and Mallaig. Latterly operated by a Wickham diesel railbus, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in June 1964.[9]

Facilities

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The island platform is equipped with benches, a help point, a car park and bike racks, the latter two located outside the station. The only access to the station is via a subway, some steps and a ramp, so the station does not have step-free access.[10] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

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Passenger Volume at Garelochhead[11]
2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2021-22
Entries and exits 3,868 4,824 5,940 5,269 5,156 5,374 4,706 5,040 5,122 5,682 5,256 6,920 7,806 8,556 9,796 8,818 8,594 1,678 8,478 10,030

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

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Monday to Saturday, there are six services to Oban and three to Mallaig (the latter combined with Oban portions, dividing at Crianlarich), and one service to Fort William (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper, weekday mornings only) northbound. Southbound, there are six services to Glasgow Queen Street High Level and one service to London Euston via Queen Street Low Level & Edinburgh Waverley (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper - does not run on Saturday).

On Sundays, there are two trains northbound to Mallaig, the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William and one extra to Oban only, plus an extra summer service to Oban; Southbound there are three trains southbound to Glasgow Queen Street. In summer months, the extra summer Sunday service returns to Edinburgh, avoiding Glasgow.[12][13][14]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Helensburgh Upper   ScotRail
West Highland Line
  Arrochar & Tarbet
Helensburgh Upper   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
  Arrochar & Tarbet
  Historical railways  
Shandon
Line open; Station closed
  West Highland Railway
North British Railway
  Whistlefield Halt
Line open; Station closed

References

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  1. ^ Brailsford (2017), Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  3. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "GARELOCHHEAD STATION INCLUDING SIGNAL BOX, SUBWAY, GATES AND RAILINGS (LB19490)". Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  4. ^ Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. pp. 83, 88. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  5. ^ Butt (1995), p. 101.
  6. ^ "Garelochhead station on OS 25inch map Dumbartonshire nIX.12 (Rhu; Rosneath)". National Library of Scotland. 1918. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  7. ^ McRae (1997), p. 11.
  8. ^ McRae (1998), p. 28.
  9. ^ "The 'Wee Arrochar'". Helensburgh Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  10. ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  12. ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218
  13. ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218
  14. ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 220

Bibliography

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