Ardgay railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ardgay and its neighbour Bonar Bridge in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, 57 miles 70 chains (93.1 km) from Inverness, between Tain and Culrain.[5] ScotRail, who manage the station, operate all services.
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The platforms at Ardgay station, looking south | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Ardgay, Highland Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 57°52′54″N 4°21′44″W / 57.8816°N 4.3622°W | ||||
| Grid reference | NH600904 | ||||
| Managed by | ScotRail | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | ARD[2] | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Inverness and Ross-shire Railway / Sutherland Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Highland Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | LMSR | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1 October 1864 | Opened as Bonar Bridge[3] | ||||
| 2 May 1977 | Renamed as Ardgay[3] | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  6,408 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 624 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  3,968 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 4,412 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 5,674 | ||||
Listed Building – Category C(S) | |||||
| Designated | 14 September 1988 | ||||
| Reference no. | LB7164[4] | ||||
| |||||
History
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Opened on 1 October 1864 as Bonar Bridge by the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway[3] and designed by Joseph Mitchell,[6][4] it became the meeting point of the Sutherland Railway and the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway. It was renamed Ardgay on 2 May 1977.[7][3]
Platform layout
editThe station has a passing loop 32 chains (640 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the southbound line can accommodate trains having ten coaches, but platform 2 on the northbound line can only hold five.[8]
Facilities
editBoth platforms have benches, but only platform 1 has a designated waiting area, as seen in the photo on the left. Platform 2 also has a help point, and there is a car park and bike racks adjacent to it. Platform 2 has step-free access, but platform 1 can only be accessed from the footbridge.[9] 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 | 2,503 | 2,297 | 3,067 | 3,964 | 5,851 | 6,516 | 7,388 | 7,404 | 8,890 | 8,108 | 8,806 | 8,416 | 6,732 | 7,144 | 7,140 | 6,998 | 6,408 | 624 | 3,968 | 4,412 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
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On Mondays to Saturdays, there are seven trains a day southbound to Inverness and five a day northbound, four of which continue on to Wick (the other terminates here). On Sundays, there is one train in each direction.[11]
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tain | ScotRail Far North Line |
Culrain or Lairg or Terminates here | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Mid Fearn Halt Line open; Station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Ross-shire RailwaySutherland Railway 
|
Culrain Line and Station open | ||
References
edit- ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d Quick 2022, p. 54.
- ^ a b "ARDGAY RAILWAY STATION AND FOOTBRIDGE". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ 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. 102. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
- ^ "Inverness and Aberdeen Junction". London Evening Standard. England. 6 October 1864. Retrieved 20 July 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "MHG7377 - Ardgay Station - Highland Historic Environment Record". her.highland.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ Brailsford 2017, map 20A.
- ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 219
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.
- Quick, Michael (2022). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.
External links
edit
- Train times and station information for Ardgay railway station from National Rail
- "Station on navigable O.S. map".
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