Blairhill railway station

Blairhill railway station serves the Blairhill area of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is 8½ miles (13 km) east of Glasgow Queen Street railway station. Situated on Blair Road, the railway station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is served by trains on the North Clyde Line, comprising Class 334s on Edinburgh to Helensburgh services, and Class 318s and Class 320s on Airdrie to Balloch services.

Blairhill
Blairhill railway station
Location
Place	Coatbridge
Local authority	North Lanarkshire
Coordinates	55.8665°N 4.0427°W / 55.8665; -4.0427
Grid reference	NS722655
Operations
Station code	BAI
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.450 million
2015/16	0.463 million
2016/17	0.483 million
2017/18	0.489 million
2018/19	0.492 million
History
Original company	North British Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
1 February 1871	Opened as Blairhill and Gartsherrie[1]
1960s???	Renamed as Blairhill[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Blairhill from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was built opened on 1 February 1871 and was previously called Blairhill and Gartsherrie.[1] It bordered the original St. Ambrose High School from 1961 until the buildings were demolished in 2012.

Facilities

The street-level platform, which now bears the "portacabin" ticket office, once supported a wooden station building which housed a ticket office and newsagent. On the night of 12 January 1987, shortly after being painted in the bright orange livery of the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive, this building was burned to the ground. The station now has a staffed ticket office during working hours (Monday-Saturday). A new purpose built car park on the site of the former St. Ambrose High School now serves the station.[2]

Services

Monday to Saturday daytimes:[3]

• Half-hourly service towards Edinburgh Waverley
• Half-hourly service towards Airdrie
• Half-hourly service towards Balloch via Glasgow Queen Street Low Level
• Half-hourly service towards Helensburgh Central via Glasgow Queen Street Low Level (As of August 2016 this service no longer calls at Shettleston, Cartyne and Bellgrove. Passengers for these stations please use the half-hourly service towards Balloch instead.)

Evening services are as follows:

• Half-hourly service towards Airdrie via all stations
• Half-hourly service towards Balloch via Glasgow Queen Street Low Level

Sunday services are as follows:

• Half-hourly service towards Edinburgh Waverley
• Half-hourly service towards Helensburgh Central

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Coatbridge Sunnyside		Abellio ScotRail North Clyde Line		Easterhouse
	Historical railways
Coatbridge Sunnyside		North British Railway Coatbridge Branch		Bargeddie

Gallery

• 
  Blairhill & Gartsherrie Station in 1961
• 
  Blairhill railway station ticket office

References

Notes

1. Butt (1995), page 37
2. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/BAI.aspx
3. Table 226 National Rail timetable, May 2016

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 978-1-85260-508-7. 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 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• RAILSCOT on Coatbridge Branch