Whifflet railway station

Whifflet
Whifflet railway station
Location
Place	Coatbridge
Local authority	North Lanarkshire
Coordinates	55°51′14″N 4°01′08″W / 55.8539°N 4.0188°W / 55.8539; -4.0188Coordinates: 55°51′14″N 4°01′08″W / 55.8539°N 4.0188°W / 55.8539; -4.0188
Operations
Station code	WFF
Managed by	First ScotRail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2005/06	204,208
2006/07	218,967
2007/08	229,628
2008/09	254,654
2009/10	246,624
2010/11	247,632
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	SPT
History
Opened 21 December 1992 (21 December 1992)
National Rail – UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Whifflet from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Whifflet railway station is located in the Whifflet area of Coatbridge and is the terminal station on the Whifflet Line. Train services are provided by First ScotRail.

To the east of the station is the link line from the North Clyde Line at Sunnyside Junction. There are no platforms on this line, but it is used by empty DMUs laying over between trips from Glasgow.

History

The station here is a relatively recent addition to the Glasgow suburban network, opening on 21 December 1992 and initially served by the Argyle Line branch between Motherwell and Coatbridge Central.^[1] It subsequently became the terminus for the former Rutherglen & Coatbridge Railway route from Glasgow Central when that route reopened to passenger traffic on 4 October 1993. The station on this site is completely new - services originally operated from Glasgow Central High Level to Coatbridge Central over the R&CR route up until their demise (due to the Beeching Axe) on 7 November 1966.^[2] Whifflet did have no fewer than three other stations serving it in the past, along with a complex network of routes operated by several different pre-grouping companies (including the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway and Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway). All of them - the Caledonian Railway's bi-level Whifflet Upper & Lower stations,^[3] the ex-M&KR station on its route north through Coatbridge (parallel to the present day Motherwell to Cumbernauld Line) and the North British Railways station located on the aforementioned freight-only line from Coatbridge Sunnyside (a short distance east the present station) had been closed by the early 1960s (the M&KR depot had closed as long ago as 1930, whilst the North British station went in November 1962 and the Caledonian one in October 1964).

When the line from Rutherglen was reopened, using Coatbridge Central as the eastern terminus was ruled out on operational & safety grounds. Trains on the new line would have had to use the single track connection from Langloan West Junction to reach Coatbridge and the use of single lead junctions for new services was discouraged at the time following two recent fatal accidents in the area (at Bellgrove and Newton) involving such layouts. Re-doubling this stretch of line wasn't considered to be economically justifiable, so a route using the double line curve to Whifflet North was chosen, with the station acting as the new terminus for the route in addition to serving the local area. It is also a stop on the Motherwell to Cumbernauld line and is still served by peak hour Argyle Line electric trains between Motherwell & Coatbridge Central, the line through here having been wired in 1982 to provide access to the container terminal at Gartsherrie for electrically-hauled freight trains.

The line to Glasgow is also due to be electrified in 2014, ahead of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games due to be held in the city.^[4] This four years earlier than originally planned and will see the route incorporated into the Argyle Line and free up the DMUs in use at present for redeployment elsewhere.

Services

2006 - 2011

The typical off-peak service since 2006 is:

• thirty minute service to Glasgow Central via Carmyle operated by Class 156.
• hourly service to Motherwell and Cumbernauld operated by Class 156.

In addition to the services above, the station is served by Argyle Line trains running to Coatbridge Central in the morning and early evening peak hours operated by Class 318 or Class 334.

There is also a service from Glasgow Central through Whifflet on to Shotts on the four Sundays before Christmas.

2013/14

The typical off-peak service since 2006 is:

• thirty minute service to Glasgow Central via Carmyle operated by Class 158.^[5]
• hourly service to Motherwell and Cumbernauld operated by Class 158.^[6]

In addition to the services above, the station is served by Argyle Line trains running to Coatbridge Central in the morning and early evening peak hours operated by Class 318 or Class 334.^[7]

There is also a service from Glasgow Central through Whifflet on to Shotts on the four Sundays before Christmas.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		First ScotRail Whifflet Line		Kirkwood
Motherwell		First ScotRail Motherwell-Cumbernauld Line		Coatbridge Central
Coatbridge Central		First ScotRail Argyle Line (peak only)		Motherwell
	Historical railways
connection to Wishaw and Coltness Railway		Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway Caledonian Railway Main Line		Coatbridge Central
Mossend		Wishaw and Coltness Railway Caledonian Railway Main Line		connection to Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway
Terminus		Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway Caledonian Railway		Langloan

References

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 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

• RAILSCOT - Whifflet