Bishopbriggs railway station

Bishopbriggs railway station is a railway station serving Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is located on the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line, 3 ¹⁄₄ miles (5.2 km) north of Glasgow Queen Street, but is currently only served by services on the Croy Line.

Bishopbriggs
Scottish Gaelic: Drochaid an Easbaig[1]
Looking east (towards Lenzie) from the footbridge
Location
Place	Bishopbriggs
Local authority	East Dunbartonshire
Coordinates	55.9038°N 4.2249°W / 55.9038; -4.2249
Grid reference	NS610701
Operations
Station code	BBG
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	0.836 million
2015/16	0.784 million
2016/17	0.581 million
2017/18	0.772 million
2018/19	0.785 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	SPT
History
Original company	Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
21 February 1842[2]	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 Bishopbriggs from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Bishopbriggs station in 1961

History

Bishopbriggs was one of the original stations on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, opened in 1842. During the 1960s, the station was scheduled for closure under the Beeching Axe but a local campaign managed to save it, although the original station buildings and footbridge were demolished. They were replaced by a modular ticket office and waiting room, as well as a new footbridge. The ticket office and waiting room was replaced with a modern glass and steel building in 2002, of a similar design to that at Croy railway station.

Present day

There is no parking with very little provided on nearby streets.

Services are provided by Abellio ScotRail, primarily using Class 170 Turbostar trains, however Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter DMU's are also used. From 2019/ 2020 Hitachi Class 385's will operate most services with a few exceptions (peak time trains to Perth for example) as electrification will only go as far as Alloa/ Dunblane.

During Glasgow Queen Street Tunnel works in summer 2016, trains served Glasgow Queen Street Low Level ran into Glasgow through Springburn calling additionally at Springburn and back to Bishopbriggs via Anniesland and Maryhill running non-stop.

The station was briefly featured in Bill Forsyth's 1980 film That Sinking Feeling.

Future

Following a consultation [3] a potential new station with Park and Ride facilities at Westerhill, (West end of the old Cadder Yard) has been identified.

In April 2015, the proposed Local Development Plan for Bishopbriggs and Torrance[4] included a proposal for a new station at Westerhill, 2 km (1.2 mi) west of Bishopbriggs station, attached to the new Bishopbriggs Relief Road.

In February 2017, the published Local Development Plan for Kirkintilloch and Twechar[5] included a marker for a potential railway station in the same location.

Services

2006/07

• Mondays to Saturdays: there was generally a half-hour service southbound from Platform 2 to Glasgow Queen Street and northbound services from Platform 1 terminating alternately at Stirling or going onwards to Dunblane.

Change at Croy for Edinburgh or at Stirling for Alloa, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen.

• Sundays: there was an hourly service in each direction.

From May 2008

• Mondays to Saturdays: There is generally a half-hour service southbound from Platform 2 to Glasgow Queen Street and northbound from Platform 1 to Stirling with alternate services going onwards to Dunblane and Alloa, as a result of the completion of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link.
• Sundays: There is an hourly service in each direction to Glasgow and Alloa.[6]

2017

• Monday - Friday there is usually a half hourly service to both Glasgow Queen Street and Stirling, with one train an hour running from Stirling to Alloa and most other service extending to Dunblane calling at Bridge of Allan. There are a couple of peak services which extend beyond Dunblane to Perth and Dundee.
• Saturday, the same as Monday - Friday but with no peak extras
• Sunday, an hourly train to Glasgow Queen Street in one direction and Alloa in the other, Alloa service call at Lenzie, Croy, Larbert and Stirling

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Glasgow Queen Street		Abellio ScotRail Croy Line		Lenzie
Glasgow Queen Street		Abellio ScotRail Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line		Lenzie
	Historical railways
Cowlairs		Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway North British Railway		Lenzie

References

Notes

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Butt (1995), Page 35.
3. "East Dunbartonshire Part 2 Transport Appraisal – Kirkintilloch/LenzieBishopbriggs-Glasgow Corridor Study". March 2015.
4. "Local Development Plan Proposed Plan: Bishopbriggs and Torrance". April 2015.
5. "Local Development Plan Kirkintilloch and Twechar". February 2017.
6. Table 230 National Rail timetable, May 2016

Sources

• 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.