Greenock West railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

View looking west, with the original station building to the left of the new road bridge and a train at the eastbound platform. The James Watt College Finnart Campus stands behind houses to the right.

View from the new road bridge showing the footbridge, with an eastbound train emerging from the tunnel.

Greenock West railway station is a station in Greenock, Scotland, located on the Inverclyde Line which runs from Gourock to Glasgow Central. The route is currently operated by First ScotRail under the auspices of Strathclyde Passenger Transport. Each service to and from Glasgow on the Inverclyde Line stops at this station.

The Caledonian Railway was granted permission in 1882 to build the station, featuring "a very neat and substantial building in Renaissance style" at street level above the tracks. The line opened in June 1889.

It is a staffed station with two platforms; the eastbound platform to Glasgow is reached via a footbridge over the tracks. The tracks are located below street level, with a tunnel to the west leading to Fort Matilda, and to the east a cutting then a tunnel takes the line to Greenock Central. The main A78 road bridge above the station had to be rebuilt and was closed to traffic for several years with a diversion in operation. As of September 2006 the bridge is again in operation, with a revised traffic system so that it takes southbound traffic only.

A busy commuter station, services at Greenock West run from around 6am until approximately 11:30pm; a more reduced, limited service operates on Sundays. It is near to The main Finnart Campus of the James Watt College stands nearby to the west of the station, so a large number of students use Greenock West.