Kyle of Lochalsh railway station

Kyle of Lochalsh railway station is the terminus of the Kyle of Lochalsh Line in the village of Kyle of Lochalsh in the Highlands, northern Scotland.

Kyle of Lochalsh
Scottish Gaelic: Caol Loch Aillse[1]
Kyle of Lochalsh station
Location
PlaceKyle of Lochalsh
Local authorityHighland
Coordinates57.2800°N 5.7138°W / 57.2800; -5.7138
Grid referenceNG762271
Operations
Station codeKYL
Managed byAbellio ScotRail
Number of platforms2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 64,256
2015/16 65,706
2016/17 62,704
2017/18 65,182
2018/19 60,606
History
Original companyHighland Railway
Pre-groupingHighland Railway
Post-groupingLMS
2 November 1897Opened[2]
Listed status
Listing gradeCategory B
Entry numberLB6954[3]
Added to list16 December 1986
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kyle of Lochalsh from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station is 63 miles 64 chains (102.7 km) from Dingwall, and has two platforms which can each accommodate a nine-coach train.[4]

History
Kyle station in 1939
Kyle station in September 1973

The station was opened on 2 November 1897[5] by the Highland Railway, following the completion of the extension of the Dingwall and Skye Railway from Stromeferry. The extension took more than four years to complete due to the unforgiving nature of the terrain through which it was driven - 29 bridges had to be constructed and more than 30 cuttings excavated through solid rock, which led to it costing £20,000 per mile[6] (making it the most expensive rail route to be built in the UK at the time). As built, the station consisted of a broad island platform on a pier next to the water's edge and a chalet-style station building close to the western end. Access to the station was (and still is) via a sloping access road. Several sidings were provided, along with a signal box and small locomotive shed.[7] The station was host to two LMS caravans from 1935 to 1937 followed by one caravan in 1938 to 1939.[8]

Until the early 1970s, the station provided a connection to the ferry services for the Outer Hebrides. The ferry terminal at the Kyle of Lochalsh was 71 miles (114 km) from Stornoway, and Ross and Cromarty council created a new £460,000 (equivalent to £7,167,700 in 2019)[9] ferry terminal at Ullapool which was only 43 miles (69 km) from Stornoway.[10]

The signal box closed in 1984, when Radio Electronic Token Block working was introduced on the line by British Rail - although no longer operational it is still intact and has been adapted for use as a holiday cottage.[11] Both platforms however remain, though only the western face (platform 1) is normally used by passenger trains. Three sidings are also still intact, including a run-round loop for loco-hauled trains alongside platform 1 and a loading bank siding adjacent to this (which has seen use by timber trains in recent years). Access to each of the sidings and platform 2 is by means of ground frames.[12]

The station is located next to the piers that used to offer sailings to Skye, the ferries being superseded on 16 October 1995 by the Skye Bridge that lies close to the station.

Services

There are four daily departures from the station to Dingwall and Inverness during the week and either one (winter) or two (summer) services on Sundays.[13]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Duirinish   Abellio ScotRail
Kyle of Lochalsh Line		   Terminus
gollark: Farm eggs?
gollark: Did he explicitly complain about "EATW"?
gollark: Oops.
gollark: My tan ridgewing study? Reverse engineering!
gollark: I mean, that could mean *anything*! Figuring out NDs a bit? Reverse engineering!

References

Notes
  1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. Butt (1995), p. 137
  3. "KYLE OF LOCHALSH RAILWAY STATION AND PIER". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  4. Brailsford 2017, map 22D.
  5. "Railways in the Western Highlands. Opening of New Kyle Extension". Glasgow Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 3 November 1897. Retrieved 15 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. The Kyle Line - History www.kylerailway.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-010-08
  7. Railscot - Kyle of Lochalsh www.railbrit.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-10-08
  8. 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.
  9. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  10. "Ross and Cromarty council vote. Ullapool is Ferry Terminal". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Scotland. 22 October 1970. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. The Kyle Line - Signal Box Holiday Apaprtment www.kylerailway.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-10-08
  12. Scot Rail - RETB Inverness www.scot-rail.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-10-08
  13. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 239 (Network Rail)

Sources
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
  • Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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: Kyle of Lochalsh Extension (Highland Railway)
  • RailScot: Dingwall and Skye Railway
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