Perth railway station (Scotland)

Perth railway station is a railway station located in the city of Perth, Scotland, on both the Glasgow to Dundee line and the Highland Main Line. It is managed by ScotRail, who provide almost all of the services (along with LNER and the Caledonian Sleeper).

Perth Scottish Gaelic: Peairt
The station's entrance in 2021
General information
Location	Perth, Perth and Kinross Scotland
Coordinates	56.3916°N 3.4384°W / 56.3916; -3.4384
Grid reference	NO112231
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	7
Other information
Station code	PTH
History
Original company	Scottish Central Railway and Scottish Midland Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
22 May 1848	Opened as Perth General
1952	Renamed as Perth
Passengers
2019/20	1.059 million
Interchange	0.106 million
2020/21	0.181 million
Interchange	15,491
2021/22	0.615 million
Interchange	56,960
2022/23	0.695 million
Interchange	0.119 million
2023/24	0.812 million
Interchange	99,349
Listed Building – Category B
Designated	26 August 1977
Reference no.	LB39340
Location Perth Location within Perth
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

It is sited 151 miles 25 chains (243.5 km) from Carlisle, measured via Stirling, Cumbernauld and Motherwell, and approximately 47 miles 68 chains (77 km) from Ladybank (thus approximately 86 miles 77 chains (140 km) from Edinburgh Waverley via Kirkcaldy and Inverkeithing).

History

Openings

The original entrance to the station, pictured around 1900 and viewed from Leonard Street. The Station Hotel is on the right

The station was opened (as Perth General Station) by the Scottish Central Railway (SCR) in 1848 to a design by William Tite. Originally the terminus of the SCR main line from Greenhill Junction near Glasgow, it soon became a junction of some importance with the arrival of the Dundee and Perth Railway from Dundee (following the completion of Tay Viaduct, a bridge across the River Tay), the Edinburgh and Northern Railway (E&NR) from Ladybank on the Fife coast and the Scottish Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) from Forfar within months. Subsequent construction by the Perth and Dunkeld Railway (P&DR) and the Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Railway added further lines into/out of the city, with the former becoming part of what is now the Highland Main Line to Inverness. The SMJR meanwhile would become part of a through route to Aberdeen by 1856, thus giving Perth travellers easy access to all of the major Scottish cities.

All of these lines, apart from the E&NR, were eventually taken over by the Caledonian Railway, though the Highland Railway (which took over the P&DR) and North British Railway (NBR; which absorbed the E&NR) also had access by means of running powers from Stanley Junction and Hilton Junction respectively.

The NBR would subsequently open a more direct route to the Scottish capital than the Caledonian's route via Stirling and the central lowlands in 1890 - this left the existing Ladybank line at Bridge of Earn and headed south via Glenfarg to Mawcarse, where it joined the Fife and Kinross Railway's line to Kinross. Trains could then travel via Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline and the newly opened Forth Rail Bridge to reach Edinburgh.

Closures

The Almond Valley line to Crieff and Methven was an early post-nationalisation casualty, closing to passengers in October 1951. The Ladybank service followed suit in September 1955. The major losses though came as the result of the Beeching Axe and its aftermath in the mid-to-late 1960s, with the main line to Aberdeen (that is, the ex-SMJR main line to Kinnaber Junction via Coupar Angus and Forfar) being closed to passenger traffic on 4 September 1967. Aberdeen services were thereafter routed via Dundee and the former NBR route via Montrose. The Aviemore to Forres section of the Highland Main Line had already been closed two years earlier, and several local stations in the area were also shut down around this time.

A further significant (and controversial) closure came on 5 January 1970, when the main line to Edinburgh via Glenfarg, Kinross and Cowdenbeath was abandoned in favour of the older but less direct line via Stirling. The Glenfarg route had been recommended for retention and development in the Beeching Report, but its removal allowed the planned M90 motorway to occupy its former alignment in the Glenfarg area when the motorway was built a few years later. However, the longer journey via Stirling proved unpopular with Edinburgh travellers and so in 1975, the old E&NR line to Ladybank was reopened by British Rail to provide a slightly quicker alternative. This is the route followed by most Edinburgh services today, but the daytime and overnight trains to London (see below) still run via Stirling and Falkirk as the line via Ladybank and Kirckaldy is served by the Aberdeen to London services.

Location

Perth bus station is situated approximately 100 metres northeast along Leonard Street, part of the A989, from the railway station.

Platform layout

Perth railway station in 2007.

Platforms 1 (right) and 2

The station has seven active platforms, but they are split into two distinct sections:

• Platforms 1 and 2 sit on the eastern side (the old Dundee & Perth Railway part of the station) and are the busiest in the station as they handle the Glasgow to Dundee and Aberdeen trains. These platforms are 20 miles 64 chains (33.5 km) from Dundee. The two platform lines then become single further east to cross the bridge spanning the Tay. Platform 3, which adjoins platform 2, is a through platform that sees a few terminating services from the south, although it can be accessed form the north from the Highland Main Line.
• The remainder of the platforms (4–7) sit under the main train shed, the former HR/SMJR platforms once used by the Coupar Angus main line as well as services to the Highlands. These platforms are an island in the shape of the letter H, with two long platforms along each side - the present platforms 4 and 7. Platforms 5 and 6 are the bays at the southern end of the island. Originally, there were also two bay platforms at the northern end which are no longer used, but part of the track is now a siding for fuelling trains. These disused bay platforms are the zero point for the Highland Main Line, although mileposts do not change until Stanley Junction (158 mi 38 chains, 255.0 km from Carlisle and 7 mi 2 chains, 11.3 km from Perth). Platforms 4–7 now are used only by around a dozen trains per day each way on the Highland Main Line, and some terminating services.

There was once an extensive goods yard at Perth, along with an engine shed and carriage sidings but only a small engineers depot remains in the greatly downsized yard.

Services

Passenger services are operated by ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, and London North Eastern Railway.

There are two main routes passing through the station - the Glasgow to Dundee & Aberdeen Line, and the Highland Main Line, whilst there is now also a regular service to/from Edinburgh via the Fife Coast. Services on weekdays are as follows:

• 40 trains per day to Glasgow Queen Street
• 35 trains per day to Dundee, with 15 extending to Aberdeen, three to Arbroath, one to Inverurie and one to Inverness
• 26 trains per day to Edinburgh, including the LNER Highland Chieftain, and the Caledonian Sleeper
• 11 trains per day to Inverness, including the LNER Highland Chieftain, and the Caledonian Sleeper

On Sundays, services are reduced to:

• 13 trains per day to Glasgow Queen Street
• 10 trains per day to Aberdeen
• 8 trains per day to Edinburgh including the LNER Highland Chieftain, and the Caledonian Sleeper
• 7 trains per day to Inverness, including the LNER Highland Chieftain, two of which extend to Elgin
• 1 train per day to Dundee

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Gleneagles		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Pitlochry or Dunkeld & Birnam
Ladybank or Markinch or Gleneagles or Dunblane or Terminus		ScotRail Highland Line		Dunkeld & Birnam or Pitlochry
Gleneagles or Dunblane or Stirling		ScotRail GlasgowｰDundee Line		Invergowrie or Dundee
Gleneagles		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Dunkeld & Birnam
	Historical railways
Terminus		Highland Railway Perth and Dunkeld Railway		Muirton Line open; Station closed
		Scottish Midland Junction Railway Caledonian Railway
Terminus		Dundee and Perth Railway Caledonian Railway		Princes Street Line open; Station closed
Forgandenny Line open; Station closed		Scottish Central Railway Caledonian Railway		Terminus
Bridge of Earn Line open; Station closed		Edinburgh and Northern Railway North British Railway		Terminus
	Disused railways
Terminus		Perth, Almond Valley and Methven Railway Caledonian Railway		Ruthven Road Line partially open; Station closed

Cultural references

The movie The Railway Man was filmed at Perth station. Platform 3 was used to pose as Crewe, and Platform 5 used to pose as Edinburgh, both set during the 1960s.

Perth station was nominated for the Carbuncle Award in 2015, which recognises the worst planning decision. The award was because a new footbridge had to be built at the southern end of the station which has stair and lift access to all platforms to comply with disability laws. Local newspaper The Courier reported on the news and interviewed Paul Tetlaw from the campaign Transform Scotland. He said:

"It's an off-the-shelf structure that has desecrated the station environment, imposed from London by 'standards bound' Network Rail designers and has no fit with the largely Victorian surroundings. To add insult to injury, it's virtually unused, as the alternatives within the station building are vastly more convenient for the overwhelming majority of passengers. This tacky and inappropriate new structure is thought to have cost in excess of £1m — money which would have been better spent on opening a new station in nearby Newburgh, which has none, with cash left over for a feasibility study of recreating a direct Perth-Edinburgh link, as advocated by our inter-city express campaign."

Future proposals

In March 2016, Transport Scotland announced a package of timetable improvements for the Scottish rail network that would see additional trains operated from Perth to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee & Inverness from 2018. There would be a two-hourly service between both Edinburgh & Glasgow and Inverness over the Highland Main Line (combining to give an hourly frequency north of Perth) and additional regional services from Arbroath & Dundee to Glasgow serving Gleneagles, Dunblane & Stirling on top of the current Aberdeen to Glasgow route (which will be accelerated by cutting some of the existing intermediate stops). As of May 2022, these improvements have still not taken place.

See also

• List of listed buildings in Perth, Scotland
• Public transport in Perth and Kinross

Bibliography

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• 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. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
• 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.

External links

• Winchester, Clarence, ed. (2 August 1935), "Perth General Station", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 839–844, description of the station in the 1930s

• Train times and station information for Perth railway station (Scotland) from National Rail