Kingussie railway station

Kingussie railway station serves the town of Kingussie, Inverness-shire in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line.

Kingussie
Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich[1]
Location
Place	Kingussie
Local authority	Highland
Coordinates	57.0776°N 4.0543°W / 57.0776; -4.0543
Grid reference	NH756004
Operations
Station code	KIN
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	42,522
2015/16	42,850
2016/17	44,200
2017/18	44,736
2018/19	40,758
History
Original company	Inverness and Perth Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
9 September 1863	Station opened
Listed status
Listing grade	Category
Entry number	LB36282[2]
Added to list	05 October 1971
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kingussie from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (I&PJ) was authorised in 1861 for a line between Forres and Dunkeld.[3] It was built quickly, and was opened in sections; the last stretch, that between Aviemore and Pitlochry, was opened on 9 September 1863; and one of the original stations was that at Kingussie.[4][5] The current station buildings date from 1893 by the architect William Roberts.[6]

The I&PJ amalgamated with other railways to form the Highland Railway (HR) in 1865,[7] and at the 1923 Grouping the HR became part of the newly formed London, Midland and Scottish Railway.[8] The adjacent stations were Kincraig to the north, and Newtonmore to the south,[9] although the former has now closed.[10]

The station was host to a LMS caravan in 1935 and 1936 followed by two caravans from 1937 to 1939.[11] A camping coach was also positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1953 to 1963, increasing to two coaches from 1964 to 1967.[12]

It is 71 miles 43 chains (115.1 km) from Perth,[13] located in Ruthven Road, Kingussie, about 200 yards south-east of the High Street. There are two platforms, both of conventional height. The Up line platform used to be at a slightly lower height, which was originally built to allow cattle to easily transfer to and from the wagons, and onto the adjacent market stance to the south of the station. This meant passengers had to be careful when alighting from a train as not all doors were given a portable step on the platform, and was not good for those with accessibility issues. In 2017, the platform was rebuilt to standard height. The station buildings are on the Down platform. A level crossing takes Ruthven Road over both tracks at the Inverness end of the station, with the local signal box at that end of the Up platform. The station is on the mainly single-track line from Inverness to Perth, and has a passing loop 33 chains (660 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the down (northbound) line can accommodate trains having twelve coaches, whereas platform 2 on the up (southbound) line can hold thirteen.[13]

Kingussie High School is close to the station, as are also the Highland Council offices serving the Badenoch and Strathspey area.

Services

There are eleven daily departures each way from the station (Mon-Sat), plus the Caledonian Sleeper (Sun- Fri nights southbound, calls to pick up only; Mon-Sat northbound). Seven of these run to Edinburgh Waverley and the others to Glasgow Queen Street. There is a daily through service to and from London King's Cross via Edinburgh and Newcastle (the Highland Chieftain).

On Sundays there are seven departures each way including the Kings Cross train, along with the southbound sleeper.[14]

From 2018, this station will be one of those to benefit from a package of timetable enhancements introduced by Transport Scotland and Scotrail. The current Perth to Inverness timetable will increase to hourly each way, with trains south of there running on alternate hours to Edinburgh & Glasgow. Journey times will also be reduced by 10 minutes to both cities.[15]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Newtonmore or Pitlochry		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Aviemore
Newtonmore or Pitlochry or Dalwhinnie		Abellio ScotRail Highland Main Line		Aviemore
Newtonmore		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Aviemore
	Historical railways
Newtonmore Line and station open		Highland Railway Inverness and Perth Junction Railway		Kincraig Line open; station closed

References

1. Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. "KINGUSSIE RAILWAY STATION INCLUDING STATION HOUSE, FOOTBRIDGE AND SIGNAL BOX". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
3. Vallance, H.A.; Clinker, C.R.; Lambert, Anthony J. (1985) [1938]. The Highland Railway (4th ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-946537-24-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
4. Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 25
5. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 135. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
6. The Buildings of Scotland, Highland and Islands. John Gifford. Yale University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-300-09625-9
7. Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 29
8. Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 154
9. Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 33, sections A2–A3. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
10. Butt 1995, p. 133
11. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 22. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
12. McRae, Andrew (1998). British Railways Camping Coach Holidays: A Tour of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part Two). Foxline. p. 13. ISBN 1-870119-53-3.
13. Brailsford 2017, map 19C.
14. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 229
15. "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback MachineTransport Scotland press release 15 March 2016; Retrieved 18 August 2016