Laurencekirk railway station
Laurencekirk  | |
|---|---|
|
Laurencekirk station after restoration and reopening | |
| Location | |
| Place | Laurencekirk |
| Local authority | Aberdeenshire |
| Coordinates | 56°50′12″N 2°27′55″W / 56.8368°N 2.4653°WCoordinates: 56°50′12″N 2°27′55″W / 56.8368°N 2.4653°W |
| Grid reference | NO717718 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | LAU |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | F1 |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2009/10 | 56,496 |
| 2010/11 |
 73,594 |
| 2011/12 |
86,142 |
| 2012/13 |
92,470 |
| 2013/14 |
102,770 |
| 2014/15 |
112,914 |
| History | |
| Original company | Aberdeen Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Caledonian Railway |
| Post-grouping | LMS |
| 1 November 1849 | Opened |
| 4 September 1967 | Closed |
| 18 May 2009 | Re-opened |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Laurencekirk from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Laurencekirk railway station is a railway station serving the communities of Laurencekirk and The Mearns in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The station was reopened on 18 May 2009 at a cost of £3 million.[1]
History
The station was opened on 1 November 1849[2] by the Aberdeen Railway, which ran from Aberdeen in the north to Guthrie (just outside Arbroath) to the south. The line joined the North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway north of Montrose at Kinnaber Junction and Arbroath and Forfar Railway at the triangular junctions at Friockheim and Guthrie.[3][4][5]
Closure
The station was closed in September 1967[2] by British Railways, at a time when they were looking to cut costs across their network, this despite the line on which the station stands being a busy main-line with frequent, direct services to London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and a number of major destinations in England.
Re-opening
The residents of Laurencekirk, many of whom now commute to Aberdeen and Dyce had successfully campaigned for the station to be re-opened – the official announcement being made during December 2006 that the station would open in December 2007, to be funded by Transport Scotland and the Regional Transport Partnership Nestrans.[6] The announcement of December 2007 for the re-commencement of services to and from Laurencekirk was ultimately overly ambitious and it was announced in early 2008 that the station would be finished and ready for the December 2008 timetable change.[7] However, in a New Release from Transport Scotland, the opening date was given at Spring 2009.[8] The station was reopened by the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure & Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson on 18th May 2009.
The station building, which had fallen into poor overall condition was refurbished during Spring 2008, and a new car park with 70 parking spaces was built by Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans, across the railway line from the station building, together with a small number of disabled parking spaces next to the station building.[7] First ScotRail made provisional plans for 19 trains to serve the station each day, made up of 10 northbound services and 9 southbound services, with southbound services serving both Edinburgh and Glasgow.[7] ScotRail will also be responsible for gritting and snowclearing at the station. On the first anniversary of the re-opening of the station, it was revealed that almost double the expected number of passengers had used it – 64,000 people as opposed to a projection of 36,000.[9] By 2014/15, passenger numbers exceeded 112,000.
Future Improvements
Service frequencies are to be improved here from 2018 as part of a timetable recast funded by Transport Scotland. A new "Aberdeen Crossrail" commuter service is to be introduced between Montrose and Inverurie, which will call here and the other intermediate stations en-route once per hour in each direction.[10]
Services
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose | Abellio ScotRail Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line |
Stonehaven | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Marykirk Line open; station closed |
Caledonian Railway Aberdeen Railway |
Fordoun Line open; station closed | ||
References
Notes
- ↑ "Rail station finally back on line". BBC News. 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- 1 2 Butt (1995), page 139
- ↑ Awdry (1990)
- ↑ Jowett (1989)
- ↑ RAILSCOT
- ↑ "Rail Network (Local Railway Stations) (PE629)". Public Petitions Committee. Scottish Parliament. 2003-09-03. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- 1 2 3 Wallace, Charles (2008-03-20). "Station plans on course". Kincardineshire Observer. Johnston Press. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ↑ "Minister celebrates 25 years of ScotRail network by announcing major boost to east coast services". Retrieved 2008-10-07.
- ↑ Cruden, Gary (2010-05-17). "Town's reopened station proves to be popular platform with travellers". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
- ↑ "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers"Transport Scotland press release 15 March 2016; Retrieved 19 August 2016
Sources
- Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063.
- Butt, R. V. J. (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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
- 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 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137.
- "RAILSCOT on the Aberdeen Railway". Retrieved 2008-04-06.
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