Inverness railway station serves the Scottish city of Inverness. It is the terminus of the Highland Main Line, the Aberdeen–Inverness line (of which the Inverness and Nairn Railway is now a part), the Kyle of Lochalsh line and the Far North Line.
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Inverness railway station (2006) | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Inverness, Highland Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 57°28′48″N 4°13′23″W / 57.4800°N 4.2230°W | ||||
| Grid reference | NH667454 | ||||
| Owned by | Network Rail | ||||
| Managed by | ScotRail | ||||
| Platforms | 7 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | INV[2] | ||||
| IATA code | ZIV | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Inverness and Nairn Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Highland Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | LMS | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 5 November 1855 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2018/19 |  1.243 million | ||||
| Interchange | 61,433 | ||||
| 2019/20 |  1.214 million | ||||
| Interchange | 59,217 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 0.232 million | ||||
| Interchange | 9,422 | ||||
| 2021/22 | 0.753 million | ||||
| Interchange | 33,187 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.975 million | ||||
| Interchange | 38,939 | ||||
| |||||
The Aberdeen and Perth lines diverge at Millburn Junction a short distance beyond Welsh's Bridge. Platforms 1–4 are 118 miles 3 chains (190.0 km) from Perth (measured via Carrbridge); Millburn Junction, 117 miles 37 chains (189.0 km) from Perth (or 143 miles 39 chains (230.9 km) via Dava). The station is the zero point for the Far North Line and platforms 5–7 are 2 chains (40 m) along this line; Rose Street Junction, 18 chains (360 m) along the line, is 118 miles 1 chain (189.9 km) from Perth.[3][4]
History
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Inverness station was opened on 5 November 1855[5] as the western terminus of the Inverness and Nairn Railway[6] to designs by the architect, Joseph Mitchell.[7] The station originally comprised a single covered passenger platform 200 feet (61 m) with three lines of rails, one for arrivals, one for departures and a spare line for carriages.
In 1857 the railway company erected a clock in front of the station facing Academy Street. This clock by Bryson & Sons, Princes Street, Edinburgh, was illuminated at night.[8]
In 1865 the station was enlarged. The platform was lengthened to 300 feet (91 m) and a shed added which was 300 feet (91 m) long, 51 feet (16 m) wide and 20 feet (6.1 m) high. There were double lines for north and south traffic.[9]
The platforms were extended again to 500 feet (150 m) and the platform roofs were extended in 1876 by Murdoch Paterson. The station platforms were lit by electricity for the first time in 1908.[10]
In 1933, as part of an internal reorganization, the London and North Eastern Railway closed their offices at the station and the staff relocated to Aberdeen.[11]
Between 1966 and 1968 under British Rail the station buildings were replaced, the new design by Thomas Munro and Company.
A revamp by Mott Macdonald of the station's frontage, forecourt and concourse was planned to be completed by 2018.[12] However this was delayed. The nearby Royal Highland Hotel refused to give up their lease of parking spaces in front of the station.[13]
Location
editThe station is located between three roads in the city centre - Falcon Square, Academy Street and Strothers Lane. It is a 2-minute walk from the Eastgate Shopping Centre, and approximately 8 minutes from Inverness Castle and the Museum & Art Gallery. A taxi rank is located on the corner of Academy Street and Falcon Square.[14]
Rose Street Curve
editThis line is a rarely-used piece of track which avoids the station, linking the Far North and Kyle of Lochalsh lines to the Highland Main Line and the line to Aberdeen.[15] In recent years it has fallen in to disuse, but up to 2019 it was used weekly on Saturdays by a train from Kyle of Lochalsh to Elgin.[16] Such trains would not easily be visible from the station.
Facilities
editPlatform destination LED screens are installed, along with a main departures and arrivals information board. Each of Platforms 1-7 has its own screen showing departures from that platform. Screens are also present behind the wall for all platforms from 3–6. In addition, several other screens are also visible for general information. The main concourse is equipped with a ticket office and ticket machines, a barber shop, a bar, a cafe, toilets, a waiting room, a lost property office, a vending machine, a cash machine, payphones and help points. The station has 3 car parks and all of the station has step-free access.[17]
Platform layout
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Inverness approaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Inverness is owned by Network Rail. However, it is operated by ScotRail who run most of the services using the station. Caledonian Sleeper and London North Eastern Railway run the only non-ScotRail services.
The station itself sits at one apex of a triangular junction in the centre of Inverness, with each half of the station connected to one line. The Highland Main and Aberdeen Lines both approach the station from the east and use Platforms 1–4, while the Far North Line (which also carries traffic heading for the Kyle Line) approach from the north-west and use Platforms 5–7. Platform 5 also has a connection from the east side, but it is only usable by a two car train, and even then, it must not be in passenger service and movements from Platform 5 to the east line are not allowed. Platform 1 is long enough for a 13-coach train; platform 2 can hold 15 coaches; platforms 3 and 4, eight each; and platforms 5–7 will accommodate five coaches each.[18]
Services
editAs of December 2023, Inverness has the following Monday–Saturday off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd):
- 5 tpd to Glasgow Queen Street via Aviemore, Perth and Stirling
- 5 tpd to Edinburgh Waverley via Aviemore, Perth and Stirling
- 1 tp2h to Aberdeen via Elgin
- 1 tp2h to Elgin via Nairn
- 4 tpd to Dingwall of which:
- 1 tpd terminates at Dingwall
- 1 tpd is extended to Invergordon
- 1 tpd is extended to Tain
- 1 tpd is extended to Ardgay
- 4 tpd to Wick via Dingwall, Georgemas Junction and Thurso
- 4 tpd to Kyle of Lochalsh via Dingwall and Strathcarron
London North Eastern Railway[20]
- 1 tpd to London King's Cross via Falkirk Grahamston, Edinburgh Waverley, Newcastle and York (the Highland Chieftain)
- 1 sleeper train per day to London Euston via Preston and Crewe; it does not operate on Saturday nights.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aviemore or Carrbridge (Sunday southbound only) |
London North Eastern Railway London Kings Cross – Inverness (Highland Chieftain) |
Terminus | ||
| Carrbridge or Aviemore |
ScotRail Highland Main Line |
Terminus or Inverness Airport (Sundays only) | ||
| Inverness Airport | ScotRail Aberdeen–Inverness line |
Terminus | ||
| Beauly or Muir of Ord |
ScotRail Far North Line Kyle of Lochalsh line |
Terminus | ||
| Aviemore or Carrbridge | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper (London Euston – Inverness) |
Terminus | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Culloden Moor Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway |
Terminus | ||
| Allanfearn Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Nairn Railway |
Terminus | ||
| Clachnaharry Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Ross-shire Railway |
Terminus | ||
Future proposals
editIn early 2020, a massive reconstruction project was announced, which included the neighbouring Sports Direct and TK Maxx stores being purchased as well as the former Royal Mail sorting office and car park. It is part of a plan to majorly reduce CO2 emissions in the City Centre, with this, the ability to have electric trains running to the station suggested electrification of lines north of the central belt. It was also announced that it would have fuelling for hydrogen vehicles as well as e-bike stations.[22]
In the future,[when?] this station will be one of those to benefit from a package of timetable enhancements to be introduced by Transport Scotland and Scotrail. The current Perth to Inverness timetable will be increased to hourly each way, with trains south of there running on alternate hours to Edinburgh & Glasgow. Journey times will be reduced by 10 minutes to both cities. The service to Nairn, Forres & Elgin will also be enhanced to hourly and some Aberdeen trains extended through to Dundee and beyond.[23] As of May 2022, this has still not yet taken place.[24]
Connections
editThe main coach and bus station is located in Margaret Street, 150 m northwest of and just around the corner from the railway station. Many services can also be joined at the stop on Millburn Road outside Marks and Spencer, closer to the station.[14]
Aside from local buses, there are also long-distance coach services which allow rail passengers to continue their journey to areas of the Highlands not on the rail network:
- Scottish Citylink route 961 operates two daily return services to Ullapool to connect with Caledonian MacBrayne ferry sailings to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. Rail passengers may also connect with this bus at Garve on the Kyle of Lochalsh line, but the timings are not so convenient.
- Scottish Citylink route 919 operates six daily return services down the Great Glen to Fort William, calling at Urquhart Castle, Fort Augustus and intermediate points. Two of these services allow onward connections with Citylink route 918 from Fort William to Oban.
Stagecoach North Scotland route 11 runs every 30 minutes between Inverness city centre and Inverness Airport. The bus leaves from Strothers Lane, just around the corner from the station. Journey time to the airport is 25 minutes.
References
edit- ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ 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. p. 99. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
- ^ Jacobs, Gerald (2001). Railway Track Diagrams, Book 1: Scotland and the Isle of Man. Bradford-on-Avon: Trackmaps. pp. 18D.
- ^ Butt (1995)
- ^ "Opening of the Inverness and Nairn Railway". Inverness Courier. Scotland. 8 November 1855. Retrieved 31 August 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ The Buildings of Scotland, Highland and Islands. John Gifford. Yale University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-300-09625-9
- ^ "Inverness Railway Station". Nairnshire Telegraph and General Advertiser for the Northern Counties. Scotland. 22 April 1857. Retrieved 31 August 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Inverness Railway Station Extensions and Improvements". Inverness Courier. Scotland. 8 June 1865. Retrieved 31 August 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Improvements on Highland Line". DundeeCourier. Scotland. 24 March 1908. Retrieved 31 August 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Inverness Railway Station Changes". The Scotsman. Scotland. 6 June 1933. Retrieved 31 August 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Design team for Inverness Station revamp". BBC News. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ "Railway station revamp delayed". Inverness Courier. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- ^ a b "National Rail Enquiries - Inverness station onward travel information" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Bill McAllister: Railway almost looked very different than what we have". Inverness Courier. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ Maund, Richard (2019). "Passenger Services over Unusual Lines" (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ Brailsford 2017, map 18B.
- ^ "Timetables". ScotRail. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "Our timetables". London North Eastern Railway. 2 June 2024. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "All timetables". Caledonian Sleeper. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "Inverness set for road and rail revolution". Inverness Courier. 6 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine Transport Scotland press release 15 March 2016; Retrieved 18 August 2016
- ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Tables 213, 214, 219, 220
Bibliography
edit- 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.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
External links
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- Train times and station information for Inverness railway station from National Rail