Lockerbie railway station

Lockerbie railway station lies on the West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Carstairs in Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located 75 miles (121 kilometres) south of Glasgow Central and 324 miles (521 kilometres) north of London Euston. The station is owned by Network Rail.

Lockerbie
Scottish Gaelic: Locarbaidh[1]
The exterior of Lockerbie station
Location
Place	Lockerbie
Local authority	Dumfries and Galloway
Coordinates	55.1231°N 3.3541°W / 55.1231; -3.3541
Grid reference	NY137817
Operations
Station code	LOC
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	215,300
2015/16	205,408
2016/17	250,940
2017/18	257,994
2018/19	272,800
History
Original company	Caledonian Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
10 September 1847	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 Lockerbie from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was opened along with the first section of the Caledonian Railway's main line from Carlisle in September 1847. The line initially terminated at Beattock, but was completed through to Glasgow & Edinburgh early the following year. A branch line from here to Dumfries via Lochmaben was completed in September 1863 – this was constructed by the independent Dumfries, Lochmaben & Lockerbie Railway, but was absorbed by the Caledonian company two years later. Though this route allowed the Caledonian company to reach Dumfries and thus compete with the rival Glasgow and South Western Railway, it never developed beyond country branch status.

On 4 May 1883, an accident occurred when the branch service from Stranraer via the Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway passed a signal and entered the station at 23:25. It collided at low speed, with a goods train already on the northbound line. This collision, though minor, forced carriages from the goods train onto the southbound line and into the path of the speeding Glasgow Express which smashed into the wreckage and derailed onto the station platform. Seven people were killed, including the driver and fireman of the express. The guard from the express ran down the line to warn another approaching train of the accident and prevented a further collision. There were 300 injuries. The driver of the first train, the Lockerbie station master and the local inspection regime were all criticised for their actions in the subsequent report on the crash.[2]

The branch to Dumfries was closed to passenger services by the British Transport Commission in May 1952. Goods traffic continued until 1966, when the line fell victim to the Beeching Axe. Except Lockerbie all other local stations on the main line between Carlisle and Carstairs closed during the 1960s. The first electrically-operated passenger services operated by British Rail in May 1974 when the West Coast Main Line electrification project between Crewe & Glasgow was completed.

Services northwards to Glasgow and Edinburgh were suspended in January 2016 and replaced by buses, whilst major repairs were carried out the River Clyde viaduct at Lamington that was damaged by Storm Frank. Trains resumed on 22 February 2016.[3]

Services and current operations

A Virgin Pendolino accelerates with a Glasgow Central – London Euston service

Lockerbie station is managed by Abellio ScotRail although the company does not provide any services to or from the station. Lockerbie is the only railway station in Scotland that is not served by Abellio ScotRail. All services are provided by Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express.

TransPennine Express

TransPennine Express provide most services, 7 days a week, There is an hourly service to Manchester Airport and a 2-hourly service to both Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley though there are a few services which do not call here leaving some gaps in the timetable.

Avanti West Coast

Avanti West Coast operate six daily services. There are three trains per day to Glasgow Central, one to Birmingham New Street, one to London Euston and one to Crewe. On Sundays, there are two trains per day to Glasgow, one to London and one to Crewe.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Carlisle		Avanti West Coast London / Birmingham - Glasgow		Motherwell
		Avanti West Coast London / Birmingham - Edinburgh		Haymarket
Carlisle		TransPennine Express Liverpool/Preston-Glasgow		Carstairs or Motherwell or Glasgow Central
Carlisle		TransPennine Express Manchester/Preston-Glasgow		Motherwell or Glasgow Central
		TransPennine Express Manchester/Preston-Edinburgh		Haymarket
	Historical railways
Ecclefechan		Caledonian Railway Main Line		Nethercleugh
Terminus		Caledonian Railway Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway		Lochmaben

References

Notes

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. "News & Star: The Lockerbie Disaster of 1883". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
3. Lamington Viaduct to remain closed until March ITV News; retrieved 19 January 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 Caledonian Railway
• Lockerbie railway station on navigable OS map