Aberdeen railway station

Aberdeen railway station is the main railway station in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the busiest railway station in Scotland north of the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

History

The station currently standing was built as Aberdeen Joint Station between 1913–16, replacing an 1867 structure of the same name, on the same site. The station and the new Denburn Valley Line enabled the main line from the south and the commuter line from Deeside to connect with the line from the north. The lines from the south had previously terminated at the adjacent Aberdeen Guild Street. Even this had not been Aberdeen's first railway station, that distinction belonging to a previous terminus a short way south at Ferryhill. After the construction of the Joint Station, Guild Street Station became a goods station. Some of its tracks remain, but the vast majority of the site was cleared in 2005. Prior to the construction of the Joint Station, lines from the north had terminated at Aberdeen Waterloo, a short but inconvenient distance along the edge of the harbour. This too became a goods station after the construction of the Joint Station. There is no longer a station at the site, but a goods service runs approximately weekly to industrial operations there. The Waterloo tracks join the north-south connecting Denburn Valley Line in the Kittybrewster area of the city, where the very first terminus of the lines from the north had briefly been, before extension and the building of the Waterloo Station. As far north as Inverurie, these follow the route of the Aberdeenshire Canal which had been purchased and filled in by the Great North of Scotland Railway. As a result of the grouping of railway companies caused by the Railways Act 1921, Aberdeen came under the auspices of the London and North Eastern Railway. It later became part of British Rail and is now managed by First ScotRail. It was announced in 2006, that as part of the Union Square retail project, the railway and bus stations would undergo major refurbishment, including new ticket gates, a new ticket office and improved parking. The automatic ticket gates have since been installed.

Station services

Medium-term parking is available in the adjoining College Street Car Park and there are also a small number of free spaces which offer parking for 20 minutes only in a separate section of the car park. There is a taxi stand immediately within the station concourse and regional and national bus services leave from Aberdeen Bus Station, which is located on the other side of the adjoining Union Square shopping and entertainment complex.

There is a Travel Office for information and ticket purchasing, as well as automatic ticket machines outside this office. The office often closes before the last trains have departed. Scotrail first class Lounge entrance is located inside the office.

There is a branch of bookshop/confectioner WH Smith and a pub and café on the concourse, with other shopping and eating facilities located in Union Square.

There are toilets accessible from the concourse, in addition to toilet facilities in the café (free to customers) and on most trains (free to passengers).

Rail services and train operators

The services from Aberdeen for the Summer 2011 timetable (from 22 May 2011) are:

ScotRail

• 1tph to Edinburgh via Dundee operated by Class 158 Express Sprinter units or Class 170 Turbostar units.
• 1tph to Glasgow Queen Street via Dundee, Perth and Stirling operated by Class 158 Express Sprinter units or Class 170 Turbostar units.
• 1tp2h to Inverness via Dyce, Inverurie, Keith and Elgin operated by Class 158 Express Sprinter units or Class 170 Turbostar units.
• 1pd to London Euston via Carlisle, Preston, Crewe and Watford Junction (Caledonian Sleeper).

East Coast

• 3tpd to London Kings Cross via Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle and York. These services are operated by InterCity 125 HST.
• 1tpd to Leeds via Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle and York. These services are operated by InterCity 125 HST.

CrossCountry

• 1tpd to to Penzance, along the Cross Country Route via Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St Davids and Plymouth. There is one northbound service to Aberdeen. These services are operated by Class 220 Voyager units.

References

Notes

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. 

External links

• Train times and station information for Aberdeen railway station from National Rail
• BVE Trainsim simulation from Edinburgh Waverley to Aberdeen