Blantyre railway station

Blantyre National Rail
Scottish Gaelic: Blantaidhr
Location
Place Blantyre
Local authority South Lanarkshire
Coordinates 55°47′50″N 4°05′12″W / 55.7972°N 4.0867°W / 55.7972; -4.0867Coordinates: 55°47′50″N 4°05′12″W / 55.7972°N 4.0867°W / 55.7972; -4.0867
Grid reference NS692579
Operations
Station code BLT
Managed by Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  0.273 million
2005/06 Increase 0.340 million
2006/07 Increase 0.383 million
2007/08 Increase 0.410 million
2008/09 Increase 0.517 million
2009/10 Decrease 0.460 million
2010/11 Increase 0.490 million
2011/12 Increase 0.527 million
2012/13 Increase 0.561 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE SPT
History
Original company Clydesdale Junction Railway
Pre-grouping Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
17 September 1849 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 Blantyre from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Blantyre railway station serves the burgh of Blantyre, near Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the Argyle Line, 14 km (8¾ miles) south east of Glasgow Central railway station (Low Level). Passenger services are provided by Abellio ScotRail on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.

History

Blantyre station in 1961

The Clydesdale Junction Railway (CJR) was authorised in 1845, but before being opened, was absorbed by the Caledonian Railway (CR) in 1846. The section of the CJR between Newton and Hamilton was opened by the CR on 5 September 1849,[1] with Blantyre station opening on 17 September 1849.[2]

Originally a Victorian style station featuring two wooden station buildings, one on each of the two platforms, these were demolished in the late 1970s. It was replaced by a modern building on the western side of the line.

Originally served by steam trains and later diesel multiple units, the line originally connected Blantyre to Glasgow Central High Level. Following the West Coast Main Line electrification in 1974, the line was worked by electric multiple units with services via Cambuslang and occasional services via Kirkhill. Upon development of the Argyle Line it was connected through to the north western fringes of Glasgow.

The station is 2 miles 29 chains (3.8 km) from the junction at Newton. There are two tracks; both are electrified on the 25kV 50Hz AC overhead system. Each track has a platform on the outside of the rail line, long enough for an eight-coach train.[3]

Services

2006/07

Monday to Saturdays, 4 trains per hour go to Glasgow Central Low Level, before continuing to (Dalmuir/Milngavie) northbound. Southbound a half-hourly service operates to Motherwell via Airbles; one of these per hour continues to Lanark via Holytown. Additionally a half-hourly Larkhall express service calls at Blantyre before continuing up to Hamilton Central then onto the Larkhall line and terminating. Blantyre has a half-hourly service on Sundays between Motherwell and Balloch via Airbles and Yoker.

2014/15

Mondays to Saturdays still sees four services per hour each way calling here, but following a recast of the Argyle Line timetable the destination pattern has changed significantly. Northbound there are now four trains per hour to Dalmuir - one each via Clydebank and via Singer every 30 minutes calling at all stations en-route. Southbound there are two trains per hour to Larkhall and two to Motherwell, with one of the latter each hour extended to Cumbernauld via Whifflet rather than Lanark via Holytown. On Sundays there are two trains each hour between Motherwell and Milngavie calling in each direction along with an hourly service each way between Balloch and Larkhall.[4]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Hamilton West   Abellio ScotRail
Argyle Line
  Newton
Historical railways
Hamilton West   Caledonian Railway
Hamilton Branch
  Newton

References

Notes

  1. Awdry (1990) page 68
  2. Butt (1995), page 37
  3. Yonge (2007), Map 8R
  4. GB National Rail Timetable 2014-15, Table 225

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, August 10, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.