Dunblane railway station

Dunblane railway station serves the town of Dunblane in central Scotland. It is located on the former Scottish Central Railway, between Stirling and Perth and opened with the line in 1848. It is the northernmost station on the National Rail network to be electrified.

Dunblane

Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain[1]
National Rail
General information
LocationDunblane, Stirling
Scotland
Coordinates56°11′09″N 3°57′57″W / 56.1857°N 3.9657°W / 56.1857; -3.9657
Grid referenceNN780009
Managed byScotRail
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeDBL
History
Original companyScottish Central Railway and Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway
Pre-groupingCaledonian Railway
Post-groupingLMSR
Key dates
22 May 1848Opened
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.547 million
2019/20Decrease 0.541 million
2020/21Decrease 73,714
2021/22Increase 0.268 million
2022/23Increase 0.360 million
Listed Building – Category C(S)
Designated17 October 2002
Reference no.LB48964[2]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Facilities

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The old footbridge which was replaced in 2014

It has three platforms, one which serves as a terminus for trains from Glasgow (Queen Street) and Edinburgh, one which serves trains heading north to Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness and the third that serves trains heading south to Glasgow and Edinburgh. These include those that terminate at Dunblane, which travel up the northbound line to the signal box to reverse & cross over to the southbound track before heading back down to the station. The signal box in question now operates only the points and signals here. As part of the now completed electrification, the semaphore signals formerly operated by the signal box within the sections electrified (i.e. not to the north of the station) have been replaced with single aspect electrical signals.

The station is staffed by one person who runs the ticket office and does most jobs around the station. Several plants have been placed around the station by a voluntary group known as 'Dunblane in Bloom'.

  • Passenger information system
  • Automatic ticket machine (on Platform 1)
  • Ticket office and waiting room (Mondays - Saturdays, a.m.)
  • CCTV
  • Waiting shelters and benches
  • Limited car parking to the East
  • Parking to the west in the former goods sidings area in conjunction with Tesco parking
  • Help point

In September 2014, a new footbridge opened with improved accessibility, and the original footbridge removed.[3] The listed footbridge was re-erected at the heritage Bridge of Dun railway station.[4]

Services

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Class 385 electric trains beneath the new footbridge

The train operating company that serves Dunblane station is ScotRail. Trains generally leave for Edinburgh at 01 and 31 minutes past the hour, and for Glasgow Queen Street at 15 minutes past the hour. The latter now run to/from Dundee, whereas those to Edinburgh start from/terminate here.[5] A limited number of Aberdeen services call at the beginning and end of the day.

On Sundays, there is a local hourly service to Edinburgh and hourly calls each way by the Aberdeen to Glasgow service, along with three Inverness to Glasgow (and vice versa) services. The southbound London North Eastern Railway service between Inverness and London King's Cross also stops here.

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Bridge of Allan   ScotRail
Edinburgh–Dunblane Line
  Gleneagles
Bridge of Allan   ScotRail
Croy Line
  Terminus
Stirling   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
  Gleneagles
Stirling   London North Eastern Railway
East Coast Main Line
  Gleneagles
  Historical railways  
Bridge of Allan
Line and station open
  Scottish Central Railway
Caledonian Railway
  Kinbuck
Line open; station closed
Terminus   Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway
Caledonian Railway
  Doune
Line and station closed

Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway

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Dunblane used to be a junction where the present line and the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway diverged. This connected at Callander to the Callander and Oban Railway. The line was axed in the Beeching cuts, being formally closed on 1 November 1965 (although traffic beyond Callander had ended five weeks earlier due to a landslide in Glen Ogle).

Parts of the trackbed from near Dunblane to Doune and from Callander to Killin are now cycle paths.

A short section of (unelectrified) track remains on the branch, and is used for storing track maintenance machines, or sometimes even a DMU.

See also

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References

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  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. ^ "STATION ROAD, DUNBLANE RAILWAY STATION INCLUDING ORIGINAL FOOTBRIDGE". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  3. ^ Dunblane station's new £3m footbridge opens for Ryder Cup Network Rail 23 September 2014
  4. ^ "New ridge at Bridge of Dun". Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  5. ^ GB National Rail Timetable May 2023, Table 212 (Network Rail)
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