Carstairs railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carstairs | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Carstairs |
| Local authority | South Lanarkshire |
| Operations | |
| Station code | CRS |
| Managed by | First ScotRail |
| Platforms in use | 2 |
| Annual entry/exit 04/05 | 12,329 ** |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| ** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Carstairs. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Carstairs railway station Serves the village of Carstairs in South Lanarkshire. It is located on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The station is operated by First ScotRail on behalf of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
Just south of the station, there is an important triangular junction (Carstairs Junction) where the WCML divides. The north-westerly route goes via Motherwell to Glasgow and the north-easterly route goes towards Edinburgh, where the East Coast Main Line begins. The south-bound route goes towards Carlisle and London. The line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is the only part of the West Coast Main Line used by GNER services. Carstairs is also a marshalling point and the final boarding point (both sleeping car and overnight coach) in Scotland for the Lowland Caledonian Sleeper trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh and London Euston. In this it helps to preserve two great traditions of the WCML, against formidable odds. Firstly, the operation of overnight sleeper services between Scotland and London and secondly, the joining and division of trains en route. The first being dependent on the second.
The station sits on a section of the West Coast Main line capable of handling services at 125mph. Northbound WCML services usually pass the station on an avoiding line, away from the platform. But northbound GNER services coming off the chord from Edinburgh will always pass platform 1. However, all southbound services must pass platform 2, as the avoiding line here only leads into the marshalling yard.
Virgin West Coast Pendolino services to/from Glasgow do not normally stop at Carstairs, except during times of train failure or engineering works. Virgin CrossCountry, on the other hand, provides a once daily service from the station to Manchester Piccadilly, using its Class 220/221 Voyager diesel units.
The InterCity 225 service from Glasgow Central to London Kings Cross, every two hours, provided by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) do not stop at Carstairs, and have never done so. They do however slow dramatically from the 110/125mph line speed either side of the station, to approximately 30mph to negotiate the tight single line curve connecting the main North/South main line to the Eastern spur to Edinburgh Waverley.
First ScotRail services from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley and North Berwick call at the station three times a day in each direction. Though, some consider them to be poorly timed and in-effective as a commuter service. Therefore they are usually under-utilised and much faster routes exist between Scotlands two major cities.
First ScotRail also provide two terminating services a day from Motherwell and Garscadden in Western Glasgow via Glasgow Central Low Level. These services cater for the small commuter market in the Carstairs area, though their main reason for stopping at the remote Carstairs station instead of the nearby, busier Lanark station is due to platform congestion at the latter during the start of the morning peak and the end of the evening peak.
[edit] Services
| West Coast Main Line |
| Principal stations (from south to north) London Euston Warrington Bank Quay |
