Alness railway station
Alness railway station is a railway station on the Far North Line, serving the village of Alness, on the Cromarty Firth, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station consists of one platform on the northern side of the railway, with only a small shelter available. The original station platforms can still be seen on both sides of the single line through the station.
Alness  | |
|---|---|
| Scottish Gaelic: Alanais[1] | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Alness |
| Local authority | Highland |
| Coordinates | 57.6944°N 4.2497°W |
| Grid reference | NH659694 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | ASS |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2014/15 |  |
| 2015/16 | |
| 2016/17 |  |
| 2017/18 | |
| 2018/19 | |
| History | |
| Original company | Inverness and Ross-shire Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Highland Railway |
| Post-grouping | LMSR |
| 23 May 1863 | Station opened |
| 13 June 1960 | Station closed |
| 7 May 1973 | Station reopened |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Alness from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
The station is 28 miles 70 chains (46.5 km) from Inverness on the Far North Line towards Wick, and has a single platform which is long enough for a six-coach train.[2]
History
The Inverness and Ross-shire Railway (I&RR), which was to be a line between Inverness and Invergordon, was authorised in 1860, and opened in stages.[3] By the time that the last section, that between Dingwall and Invergordon, opened on 25 March 1863, the I&RR had amalgamated with the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway (I&AJR), the authorisation being given on 30 June 1862.[4] On this last stretch, one of the original stations was that at Alness.[5] The I&AJR in turn amalgamated with other railways to form the Highland Railway in 1865,[6] which became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923.[7] The line then passed on to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The station at Alness was then closed by the British Transport Commission on 13 June 1960[5] and remained so for 13 years.
The station reopened on 7 May 1973[5] after significant housing development in the area.[8] The initial service provision was three trains each way on weekdays and one on Sundays.[8] When sectorisation was introduced by British Rail in the 1980s, the station was served by ScotRail until the privatisation of British Rail.
Services
On Mondays to Saturdays, there is generally a two-hourly service southbound to Inverness with four trains per day northbound to Wick.
On Sundays, there are five trains to Inverness, three to Tain and one each to Invergordon & through to Wick.[9]
| Preceding station | |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dingwall | Abellio ScotRail Far North Line |
Invergordon | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Evanton Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Ross-shire Railway |
Invergordon Line and station open | ||
Notes
- Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- Brailsford 2017, map 18D.
- Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 31
- Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 32
- Butt 1995, p. 15
- Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 40
- Vallance, Clinker & Lambert 1985, p. 154
- Kichenside, G.M., ed. (May 1973). "Farther North station reopened". Modern Railways. XXX (296): 173.
- Table 239 National Rail timetable, May 2016
References
- 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.
- Vallance, H.A.; Clinker, C.R.; Lambert, Anthony J. (1985) [1938]. The Highland Railway (4th ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-946537-24-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)