Carstairs railway station

Carstairs National Rail

North end (Glasgow end) of the station
Location
Place Carstairs
Local authority South Lanarkshire
Coordinates 55°41′29″N 3°40′09″W / 55.6913°N 3.6692°WCoordinates: 55°41′29″N 3°40′09″W / 55.6913°N 3.6692°W
Grid reference NS952454
Operations
Station code CRS
Managed by ScotRail
Owned by Network Rail
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  12,329
2005/06 Increase 14,589
2006/07 Decrease 13,766
2007/08 Decrease 13,261
2008/09 Increase 15,002
2009/10 Decrease 11,098
2010/11 Decrease 10,680
2011/12 Increase 13,548
- Interchange 3,113
2012/13 Increase 20,610
- Interchange Decrease 3,103
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE SPT
History
15 February 1848 Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Carstairs from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Carstairs railway station in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, is a major junction station on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), situated close to the point at which the lines from London Euston to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh diverge. Constructed originally by the Caledonian Railway, the station is operated today by ScotRail and is also served by one First TransPennine Express trains service per day between Preston and Glasgow Central. All other services by First TransPennine Express and services operated by CrossCountry, Virgin Trains East Coast and Virgin Trains West Coast pass the station, but do not stop.

Locale

Just south of the station, there is an important triangular junction (Carstairs Junction) where the WCML divides. The north-westerly route goes via Motherwell to Glasgow and the north-easterly route goes towards Edinburgh, where the East Coast Main Line begins. The southbound route goes towards Carlisle and London. The line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is the only part of the West Coast Main Line used by Virgin Trains East Coast services. Carstairs is also a marshalling point and the final boarding point (both sleeping car and overnight coach) in Scotland for the Lowland Caledonian Sleeper trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London Euston.

Northbound (Down) WCML services usually pass the station on an avoiding line (known as the Down Main), away from the platform line (known as the Down platform), but northbound services coming off the chord from Edinburgh (ECML and Cross Country) usually pass Platform 1: they can be signalled from Platform 2, but this rarely happens. However, all southbound (Up) services must pass Platform 2 (on the Up Main), as there is no avoiding line on that side of the station. The Up Main and Down Platform lines are both signalled for bi-directional working, and are often used as passing loops for passenger and freight services. For example, the early morning departure for Glasgow Central from North Berwick will wait at the Down Platform as a fast Transpennine service from Manchester passes.

There is also the Down Passenger Loop (which is adjacent to the station) and the Up Passenger Loop (immediately to the north of the station) which are both used to stop freight services while faster passenger services pass. It is also common for northbound freights to be stopped in both the Down Platform line and Down Passenger Loop and for fast passenger services to be passed between them on the Down Main.

Electrification

Down platform and old station building in June 1983

The route through the station was electrified in 1974 electrification scheme that covered the West Coast Main Line between Weaver Junction and Glasgow Central. As part of this the station was re-signalled. The critical point was the connection from the Edinburgh on a minimum radius curve to provide a connection into the down platform whilst avoiding the installation of a diamond crossing. The requirement for superelevation through the Up platform for 90 mph running required deep ballasting the side effect of which required the platform to be raised. The original station buildings were being retained therefore continuous railings were provided to prevent passengers inadvertently falling down from one level to the other.[1] This height difference has now been removed as the original station buildings were demolished and replaced with a more modern alternative and the entire platform was levelled off. The only remnant of the original station buildings to remain was the integral footbridge, now adapted as a stand-alone structure.

The route to Edinburgh was not part of the 1970s scheme, however was included as part of the late 1980s ECML scheme, with electric services starting to use the line in 1989 (prior to the commencement of the main East Coast Main Line (ECML) electric services).[2]

Services

Historical

Carstairs was an important junction station where northbound West Coast Main Line trains were split into separate portions for Glasgow, Edinburgh and (to a lesser extent) Stirling and Perth, and for the corresponding combining of southbound trains. However, the introduction of push-pull operation on the WCML and the availability of surplus HST sets for Cross Country traffic (as a result of the ECML electrification) largely eliminated this practice in the early 1990s. Apart from the sleeping car trains, express traffic through Carstairs now consists of fixed-formation trains which do not require to be remarshalled en route. As a result, few express trains now call at Carstairs. There were some local stopping services to Edinburgh and Glasgow, but these are relatively infrequent.

2012

West Coast Main Line services to/from Glasgow Central operated by Virgin Trains Pendolino and Super Voyager trains and Transpennine Express British Rail Class 185 and British Rail Class 350 trains do not normally stop at Carstairs, except during times of train failure or engineering works. These can be quite dramatic to view in the southbound direction as they pass the platform, with Pendolinos and Voyager tilting at 100 mph.

Station and yards in 1986

East Coast Main Line services to/from Glasgow Central operated by East Coast InterCity 225 and CrossCountry Voyagers also do not stop at Carstairs. They do however slow dramatically from the 100 mph line speed either side of the station, to approximately 30 mph to negotiate the minimum radius single line curve connecting the main WCML to the eastern spur to Edinburgh Waverley. CrossCountry provides a two hourly service between Glasgow and Edinburgh and Virgin Trains East Coast provides one train per day in each direction between Glasgow and London Kings Cross via Edinburgh.

In the December 2012 timetable, on Mondays to Thursdays, an evening TransPennine Express service was provided from Edinburgh to Carstairs, connecting with a southbound Virgin Trains service from Glasgow to Crewe. The First TransPennine Express service now continues to Manchester Airport and the Virgin Trains service from Glasgow to Crewe no longer calls here.

ScotRail services from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley call at the station approximately every two hours in each direction, on Mondays to Saturdays. ScotRail also provide two terminating services a day from Motherwell and Garscadden in western Glasgow via Glasgow Central Low Level. These services cater for the small commuter market in the Carstairs area, though their main reason for stopping at the remote Carstairs station instead of the nearby, busier Lanark station is due to platform congestion at the latter during the start of the morning peak and the end of the evening peak.

The Lowland Caledonian Sleeper calls at this station six days a week on each leg of its journey. The sections from Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central are joined/split at the station for their onwards journeys. Highland sleeper services to Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen do not call at the station. There is no Sunday service from this station.

The Tweed Cycleway to Biggar and the Tweed Valley commences outside of Carstairs station.

December 2013

In the December 2013 timetable there are no scheduled stops by East Coast, First Transpennine Express, Virgin Trains or CrossCountry services.

All stopping services are provided by First ScotRail.

May 2014

In the May 2014 timetable there are no scheduled stops by East Coast, Virgin Trains or CrossCountry.

First TransPennine Express now provide one service per day to Glasgow Central and Manchester Airport. All other First TransPennine Express services run through without stopping.

All other stopping services are provided by First ScotRail.

April 2015

In the April 2015 timetable there is no stops by Virgin Trains, Virgin Trains East Coast or CrossCountry.

On 1 April 2015 all services transferred from First ScotRail to Abellio ScotRail, except for the Caledonian Sleeper which is now operated by a private company called Serco.

First TransPennine provide a limited service northbound to Glasgow Central and southbound to Preston. All other FTPE services pass through non-stop.

Routes

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Kirknewton   ScotRail
North Berwick Line
   Carluke
Terminus   ScotRail
Argyle Line
   Carluke
Carlisle   Caledonian Sleeper
Lowland Caledonian Sleeper		   Motherwell
Edinburgh Waverley
Lockerbie   First TransPennine Express
TransPennine North West
Preston-Glasgow Central
Limited Service		   Motherwell
Historical railways
Thankerton
Line open; Station closed		   Caledonian Railway Main Line
to Greenhill Junction		   Cleghorn
Line open; Station closed
Caledonian Railway Main Line
from Edinburgh		 Carnwath
Line open; Station closed
Terminus   Dolphinton Branch
Caledonian Railway
   Bankhead
Line and Station closed

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carstairs railway station.

Notes

  1. ↑ Nock (1974)
  2. ↑ Electrifying the East Coast Route; Peter Semmens (1991) ISBN 0-85059-929-6.

Sources