Ayr railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ayr | |||
 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Looking south, terminal platforms 1 & 2 to the right, through platforms 3 & 4 on the left. | |||
| Location | |||
| Place | Ayr | ||
| Local authority | South Ayrshire | ||
| Coordinates | Coordinates: | ||
| Grid reference | NS340214 | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | AYR | ||
| Managed by | First ScotRail | ||
| Platforms in use | 4 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2002/03 * | 1.154 million | ||
| 2004/05 * | 1.257 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 1.366 million | ||
| Passenger Transport Executive | |||
| PTE | SPT | ||
| History | |||
| 12 January 1886 | Opened | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ayr from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
|
|||
Ayr railway station serves the town of Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is situated in Smith Street, off Burns Statue Square. The station, which is managed by First ScotRail, is on the Ayrshire Coast Line 41.5 miles (66.8 km) south-east of Glasgow Central railway station.
Contents |
[edit] History
The station was opened on 12 January 1886 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.[1] This was the third station to be named 'Ayr' in the town: the original station, located on the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway, opened in 1839. When the Ayr and Dalmellington Railway was opened in 1856, a station called Ayr Townhead was opened on the south side of the town. When the original Ayr station was closed on 1 July 1857,[1] Townhead station was renamed 'Ayr', however this second station closed the same day the current station opened.[1] The current station was built just 280m south of the previous station.[1]
[edit] Station description
Ayr station consists of two through platforms, and two bay platforms to the north.[2] The northbound platform station building is located on the ground floor of the four-storey hotel attached to the station, and the southbound platform has a large single storey sandstone building.[2] The glazed canopy that covers a small section of all four platforms and the waiting area was originally much larger than its current size.[2]
The station has one of eight remaining ticket offices on the Ayr to Glasgow Central line, the others being Prestwick Town, Troon, Irvine, Kilwinning, Johnstone, Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Central. In December 2006 the station received automatic ticket barriers as part of the First ScotRail's revenue protection policy.[3]
[edit] Hotel
The hotel attached to the station was originally opened by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in June 1866; and it become part of the British Transport Hotels (BTH) at Nationalisation.[4] It was sold by BTH in October 1951;[4] and has changed ownership a number of times, having been owned by Stakis Hotels, Quality, and presently Swallow Hotels.
The Station Hotel is currently the oldest and most famous hotel in Ayr. The hotel has retained almost all of its original features inside and out.
[edit] Services
[edit] Past
Ayr used to have a daily London Euston service which ran to/from Stranraer via Barassie to the Glasgow South Western Line, which was dropped in the mid 1980s. In the 1980s the Royal Scot started from Ayr. Following completion of the Ayrline electrification the train operated in push-pull mode with Class 87 or 90. In the early 1990s with the restruction of British Railways the train ceased to start from Ayr.
[edit] Present
There are trains from Ayr to Glasgow Central every half hour daily, except for Sundays during the winter timetable (Oct-May), when the frequency is hourly. This service is one of the busiest on the rail network in Scotland and can suffer from serious overcrowding at peak times. To alleviate this, in June 2005 First ScotRail extended the length of trains departing Ayr between 0643 and 1813 on weekdays to six cars wherever possible. The expansion of low-cost carrier Ryanair from Glasgow Prestwick Airport is the main reason behind the soaring passenger numbers on the Glasgow - Ayr route.[citation needed]
There are also less frequent services from Ayr to Girvan, Stranraer, Kilmarnock and Newcastle in England.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | First ScotRail |
Newton-on-Ayr | ||
| Maybole | First ScotRail |
Prestwick Town | ||
| Historical Railways | ||||
| Alloway Line and station closed |
Glasgow and South Western Railway |
Connection with A&DR at Alloway Junction |
||
| Maybole Junction Line open; station closed |
Glasgow and South Western Railway |
Newton-on-Ayr Line and station open |
||
| Connection with A&DR at Hawkhill Junction |
Glasgow and South Western Railway |
Auchincruive Line open; station closed |
||
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Sources
- 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, Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
- Carter, Oliver (1990). An illustrated history of British Railway Hotels: 1838-1983. St Michael's: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 0-947971-36-X.
- Hume, John R. (1976). The Industrial Archaeology of Scotland, Vol. 1: The Lowlands and Borders. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-3234-9.
