Milngavie railway station

Milngavie railway station serves the town of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow in Scotland. The station is 8 1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) north west of Glasgow Central on the Argyle Line and 9 miles (14.5 km) north west of Glasgow Queen Street on the North Clyde Line.

Milngavie
Scottish Gaelic: Muileann-Gaidh[1]
Location
PlaceMilngavie
Local authorityEast Dunbartonshire
Coordinates55.9412°N 4.3145°W / 55.9412; -4.3145
Grid referenceNS555744
Operations
Station codeMLN
Managed byAbellio ScotRail
Number of platforms2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.998 million
2015/16 0.992 million
2016/17 0.966 million
2017/18 0.940 million
2018/19 0.945 million
History
28 August 1863Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Milngavie from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Its principal purpose today is as a commuter station for people working in Glasgow city centre. The station itself is a category B listed building.[2] Milngavie station is generally well kept and has had a history of winning many awards and commendations for the quality of the flower baskets and tubs in station garden competitions.

The station is the usual access point for the 154 km (96 mi) long West Highland Way, a long-distance trail which officially starts in Milngavie town centre marked by a granite obelisk. The first few hundred yards of the way follow the line of short spur of the railway originally built to serve the Ellangowan Paper Mills.

History
Milngavie station in 1985

The station was opened on 28 August 1863, and was then part of the Glasgow and Milngavie Junction Railway. Originally built with three platforms, one platform has since been removed. The land where the third platform once stood has been sold and is now the site of a Kwik-Fit garage. The double track line from Hillfoot station was singled in 1990.

For December 2020, the 141 metre long platforms will be extended to 205 metres by reinstating 39 metres of unused platform and adding a further 25 metres of new platform. The project will cost £5 million.[3]

Facilities

Milngavie station has a ticket office, staff facilities, and disabled access. There is no taxi rank, but there is a regular bus service operating from the bus stop outside the station entrance. A pedestrian underpass links the station to the town centre, which is also pedestrianised, and the southern end of the West Highland Way long-distance footpath to Fort William.

Signalling
See also: Railway signalling

Milngavie signal box was situated to the south of the station, on the east side of the railway. It opened in 1900 when the line was doubled. A new lever frame with 35 levers was installed in 1959.

The signal box was closed on 21 October 1990 under a resignalling scheme that saw control of the whole North Clyde Line transferred to Yoker Signalling Centre.

Services

Passenger services are operated by Abellio ScotRail with assistance from Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. Trains to Glasgow operate on a regular schedule, with a departure once every 15 minutes on weekdays. Two trains per hour go to Edinburgh Waverley via Glasgow Queen Street and Bathgate (limited stop) on the North Clyde Line, while the other two travel to Motherwell via Glasgow Central and Hamilton Central on the Argyle Line (with one train an hour continuing to Cumbernauld).[4] In the evenings and on Sundays a half-hourly service operates via Glasgow Central to Motherwell via Hamilton. Return services on the Argyle Line arrive from Larkhall via Hamilton Central. Argyle line services are operated by Class 318, Class 320 and less frequently by Class 334 electric multiple units; services to and from Edinburgh are operated solely by class 334s.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Hillfoot   Abellio ScotRail
Argyle Line
   Terminus
Hillfoot   Abellio ScotRail
North Clyde Line
   Terminus
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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. Historic Environment Scotland. "Railway Station, Milngavie  (Category B) (LB37852)". Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  3. "£5m Milngavie station improvement".
  4. Table 225 & 226 National Rail timetable, May 2016
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