Dunfermline City railway station

Dunfermline City railway station (formerly Dunfermline Town) is a station in the city of Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.[3] The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 17 miles (27 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley.

Dunfermline City

Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhùn Phàrlain[1]
National Rail
St Margaret's Drive entrance
General information
LocationDunfermline, Fife
Scotland
Coordinates56°04′06″N 3°27′08″W / 56.0682°N 3.4521°W / 56.0682; -3.4521
Grid referenceNT096870
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeDFE
History
Original companyDunfermline and Queensferry Railway
Pre-groupingNorth British Railway
Post-groupingLNER
Key dates
5 March 1890Opened as Dunfermline Lower[2]
1968Renamed as Dunfermline
January 2000Renamed as Dunfermline Town
3 October 2022Renamed as Dunfermline City
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 0.562 million
2020/21Decrease 72,732
2021/22Increase 0.275 million
2022/23Increase 0.353 million
2023/24Increase 0.475 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Railways in and around Dunfermline
(ChR)
Charlestown
Torryburn Line Junction
(ChR)
Netherton Goods
Charlestown Branch Jn
Dunfermline Lower
Dunfermline Upper
Townhill Junctions
Rosyth
Dunfermline Queen Margaret
Halbeath
Railways
ChR
Charlestown Railway
(NBR)
D&QR
Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway
(NBR)
E&NR
Dunfermline Branch of Edinburgh and Northern Railway
(NBR)
KL
Kincardine Line
(NBR)
S&DR
Stirling and Dunfermline Railway
(NBR)

History

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The station was opened by the Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway on 1 November 1877, named Dunfermline, Comely Park. It was rebuilt in 1889, the Down (northbound) platform being extended eastwards with a new booking office building and a new Up (southbound platform) being provided; the extended facilities were brought into use on 5 March 1890, from which date the station was known as Dunfermline Lower in contradistinction to Dunfermline Upper on the line to Stirling. After the latter station was closed in 1968, the suffix was dropped and it became known as plain Dunfermline. During the 1970s and 1980s British Rail only ran a regular daytime service on the Dunfermline line between Edinburgh and as far as Cowdenbeath; Lochgelly & Cardenden were only served during the weekday business peaks, whilst the remainder of the route to Thornton Junction was freight-only (having been closed to passengers in 1969). In 1989 though, BR decided to restore the Fife circular.

In March 1998, Dalgety Bay opened, while two years later in 2000, a new station was opened in the expanding eastern suburbs of Dunfermline and given the name of Dunfermline Queen Margaret, after the nearby Queen Margaret Hospital. To prevent confusion following the opening of the nearby Dunfermline Queen Margaret in 2000, the station was again renamed to Dunfermline Town. Around the same time the frequency was improved to every 30mins to Edinburgh.

Following Dunfermline being granted city status, Jenny Gilruth, the Transport Minister, announced on 3 October 2022 that the station would be renamed to Dunfermline City.[3]

Station facilities

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The station can be accessed from St. Margaret's Drive. The station building is on the northbound platform. In the building is a ticket office, a toilet (accessed by key) and a kiosk. There is also a CCTV monitoring centre for stations in the east of Scotland and a taxi ordering office. There is a public phone at the entrance and there are waiting rooms on both platforms. The platforms are connected by a ramped subway, this providing an alternative access to the station from Woodmill Street on the south side. There is a taxi rank at the main entrance and station car parks on both sides of the railway. CCTV is in operation.

Train services

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On Mondays to Saturdays during the daytime, there is generally a half-hourly service southbound to Edinburgh Waverley, and a half-hourly service northbound round the Fife Circle as far as Cowdenbeath, with one service continuing through Kirkcaldy, eventually coming back to Edinburgh Waverley. In the evenings the service is hourly (and terminates at Glenrothes with Thornton) There is also a daily service to and from Perth via Markinch.

In 2016 the Sunday frequency service was increased to hourly, from its previous 2 hourly service.[4]

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Rosyth   ScotRail
Fife Circle Line
  Dunfermline Queen Margaret
  Historical railways  
Rosyth
Line and station open
  North British Railway
Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway and
Dunfermline Branch of E&NR
  Halbeath
Line open; station closed
  North British Railway
Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway and
Dunfermline Branch of E&NR
  Dunfermline Upper
Line and station closed
Cairneyhill
Line open; station closed
  North British Railway
Kincardine Line
  Terminus
Charlestown (KL)
Line and station closed
  North British Railway
Charlestown Railway
  Terminus

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. ^ Butt (1995), p. 85
  3. ^ a b "Historic city status for Dunfermline sees station name change". Scotrail. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  4. ^ Table 69 National Rail timetable, May 2016

Sources

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