Aberdeen to Inverness Line

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Aberdeen to Inverness Line
LUECKE
  Kyle of Lochalsh Line / Far North Line
STRrg ABZrd
Rose Street & Welsh's Bridge Junctions
KBFe STR
Inverness
ABZlf STRlg
Millburn Junction
HLUECKE KRZu STRrf
  Highland Main Line
BHF
Nairn
BHF
Forres
BHF
Elgin
LUECKE STR
  Keith and Dufftown Railway
xKBFe STR
Keith Town
xCPICla CPICr
Keith
STRlf ABZlg
BHF
Huntly
BHF
Insch
BHF
Inverurie
DST
Raiths Farm Freight Terminal
FLUG BHF
Dyce (for Aberdeen Airport)
BHF
Aberdeen
LUECKE
  Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line

The Aberdeen to Inverness Line is a railway line in Scotland linking Aberdeen and Inverness.

Contents

[edit] Current services

Passenger services are operated by First ScotRail. There are also freight operations on the line.

The route serves the following cities, towns and villages (Ordnance Survey grid references for stations):

Places Grid references
and other notes
Aberdeen NJ941058
Connection with the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line
Dyce NJ884128
Inverurie NJ775218
Insch NJ629275
Huntly NJ535396
Keith NJ429516
Connection with the preserved Keith and Dufftown Railway
Elgin NJ218621
Forres NJ029589
Nairn NH881560
Inverness NH667454
Connections with the Highland Main Line, the Far North Line and, via Dingwall on the Far North Line, the Kyle of Lochalsh Line

[edit] History

[edit] Construction

The line was built in three parts:-

[edit] Grouping and nationalisation

The first two merged to form the Highland Railway. The Highland Railway operated the line from Inverness to Keith: The Great North operated the line from there to Aberdeen. The Highland was grouped with other railways into the London Midland and Scottish Railway and the Great North was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway by the Railways Act 1921, before eventually becoming part of British Railways in 1948.

[edit] Beeching closures

Many intermediate stations were closed at various dates in the 1950s and 1960s to both passenger and goods traffic. The Beeching Report of 1963 recommended the closure of Inverurie and Insch stations but these remain open. Dyce station was reopened to serve Aberdeen Airport.

[edit] Current operations

Today the tracks belong to Network Rail. Passenger services are operated by First ScotRail. There is some limited freight traffic, with Elgin retaining a goods yard.

[edit] Future

There are curretly plans to extend some of the services and increase the frequency of trains between Inverurie and Aberdeen. This will be part of the Aberdeen Crossrail project.