Helensburgh Upper railway station (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Eilidh Àrd) serves the town of Helensburgh, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde to the west of Glasgow. It is located in a residential area uphill from the town centre and is by far the smaller of the town's two stations. It is on the West Highland Line, 2 miles 8 chains (3.4 km) from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh, the first station on the line before Garelochhead.[4] ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, with others provided by Caledonian Sleeper.
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The station in 2020 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 56°00′45″N 4°43′49″W / 56.0124°N 4.7304°W | ||||
| Grid reference | NS298833 | ||||
| Managed by | ScotRail | ||||
| Transit authority | SPT | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | HLU[2] | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | West Highland Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | North British Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | LNER | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 7 August 1894 | Opened[3] | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  13,372 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 1,520 | ||||
| Interchange | 285 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  6,916 | ||||
| Interchange | 1,073 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 9,320 | ||||
| Interchange | 737 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 11,706 | ||||
| Interchange | 9,827 | ||||
| |||||
History
edit
The station opened in 1894.[3]
Originally built with an island platform in a cutting, the Up platform was taken out of use in 1968 although the station building remained in use for another few years. Until the 1960s, the station was served by a local shuttle service between Craigendoran and Arrochar & Tarbet in addition to main line trains to Fort William and Mallaig. Latterly operated by a Wickham diesel railbus, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in 1964.[5]
Location
editThe station is within a short walk of the Hill House, built by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and now preserved by the National Trust for Scotland. By using Helensburgh Upper station to visit the Hill House, visitors can avoid the walk uphill from Helensburgh Central railway station. However, Helensburgh Upper has an infrequent train service compared with that available to and from Helensburgh Central.[6][7]
Facilities
editThe single platform is equipped with a shelter, a bench, a help point and bike racks. The station has step-free access.[8] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.
Passenger volume
edit| 2002–03 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 148 | 213 | 173 | 600 | 17,025 | 22,444 | 23,294 | 23,466 | 14,204 | 14,072 | 11,964 | 15,731 | 15,127 | 14,276 | 14,432 | 14,046 | 13,372 | 1,520 | 6,916 | 9,320 |
| Interchanges | –[nb 1] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,947 | 285 | 1,073 | 737 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
editMonday to Saturday, there are six services to Oban and three to Mallaig (the latter combined with Oban portions, dividing at Crianlarich), and one service to Fort William (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper, weekday mornings only) northbound. Southbound, there are six services to Glasgow Queen Street High Level and one service to London Euston via Queen Street Low Level & Edinburgh Waverley (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper - does not run on Saturday).
On Sundays, there are two trains northbound to Mallaig, the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William and one extra to Oban only, plus an extra summer service to Oban; Southbound there are three trains southbound to Glasgow Queen Street. In summer months, the extra summer Sunday service returns to Edinburgh, avoiding Glasgow.[7][10][11]
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dumbarton Central | ScotRail West Highland Line |
Garelochhead | ||
| Dumbarton Central | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Sleeper |
Garelochhead | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Craigendoran Upper Line open; Station partially closed |
North British Railway West Highland Railway |
Rhu (Row) Line open; Station closed | ||
Notes
edit- ^ No data available.
References
edit- ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- ^ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ a b Butt (1995)
- ^ Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 83. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
- ^ "The 'Wee Arrochar'" Archived 16 April 2016 at the Wayback MachineHelensburgh Heritage Trust website; Retrieved 27 April 2016
- ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 206
- ^ a b eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218
- ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218
- ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 220
Bibliography
edit- Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
- 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.
External links
edit
- Train times and station information for Helensburgh Upper railway station from National Rail