Stirling railway station (Scotland)

Stirling railway station is a railway station located in Stirling, Scotland. It is located on the former Caledonian Railway main line between Glasgow and Perth. It is the junction for the branch line to Alloa and is also served by trains on the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line and long-distance services to Dundee and Aberdeen and to Inverness via the Highland Main Line.

Stirling

National Rail
The station frontage
General information
LocationStirling, Stirling
Scotland
Coordinates56°07′12″N 3°56′06″W / 56.1201°N 3.9351°W / 56.1201; -3.9351
Grid referenceNS797935
Managed byScotRail
Platforms9 (10 Historically)
Other information
Station codeSTG
Key dates
1848Opened
1913Rebuilt[2]
Passengers
2019/20Increase 2.485 million
 Interchange Increase 0.420 million
2020/21Decrease 0.432 million
 Interchange Decrease 57,004
2021/22Increase 1.436 million
 Interchange Increase 0.289 million
2022/23Increase 1.927 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.286 million
2023/24Increase 2.390 million
 Interchange Increase 0.447 million
Listed Building – Category A
Designated3 February 1978
Reference no.LB41131[3]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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Dundee – Edinburgh express in 1957

Stirling was first connected to the Scottish Central Railway, with southbound services to Greenhill commencing on 1 March 1848 and northbound services to Perth on 22 May 1848.[4] In 1853 the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway opened a station known as Stirling East, directly next to the main station. The Forth and Clyde Junction Railway opened a line to Balloch Central three years later serving the main station. Through services to/from the Callander and Oban Railway also served the station from 1870.

Following a competition, the current station buildings were constructed by Caledonian Railway in 1912-15 by James Miller and William A. Paterson, at a cost of £36,291.[5] They have undergone several refurbishments (with minor layout changes), the most recent change being the installation of lifts to enable better access to the footbridge linking Platform 2 with Platforms 3 to 8.

The line to Balloch lost its passenger services in 1934 and closed as a through route in 1942, although the section from Stirling to Port of Menteith remained open for freight until 1959. The main line from Stirling to Dunfermline was not scheduled for closure under the Beeching Axe, but it was nevertheless closed in 1968. It has since been partly reopened as far as Alloa (see below). Oban services via the C&O line ended with the Beeching cuts in 1965, and the main terminus in Glasgow for services from Stirling changed from the former C.R. station at Buchanan Street to Queen Street the following year.

In 1968 Stirling East Station and Stirling Station were formally merged.

A Motorail service ran between London and Stirling until 1989.[6]

In 2008, the travel centre was refurbished to improve disabled access, including power-assisted entrance doors, a wheelchair-accessible counter, and improved customer information systems. In 2009, a shelter was erected on Platforms 9 and 10, and LED display boards replaced the CRT screens, including new displays for Platforms 9 and 10 and the bay Platforms 7 and 8. (Up to c.1988, a large flip-dot display was located above the main concourse; this was removed and the space filled in with a large "Welcome to Stirling Station" sign.) From December 2009, automated announcements were provided, replacing the manual announcements made from the supervisor's office on Platform 3. In 2013, a new public address system was installed.[7] In 2018, work began to refurbish the footbridge. It was raised to allow the tracks underneath to be electrified, and lifts installed to allow step-free access to platform 9.[8] The refurbished bridge was opened on 9 September 2019.[9]

Description

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Forthside Bridge (completed in 2009) passes over the station.

The station building was constructed in 1915 by James Miller, replacing the original 1848 structure designed by Andrew Heiton,[10] and is listed by Historic Environment Scotland as a Category A listed building.[11] Miller's design continues the circular spaces and flowing curves of his celebrated Wemyss Bay station.

The station houses a Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) from the British Transport Police. Currently two officers work from Stirling and cover Stirling, Alloa, Bridge of Allan, Camelon, Dunblane, Falkirk High, Falkirk Grahamston and Larbert.

The Stirling Area Command of the Forth Valley Division of Police Scotland cover the territorial area the Stirling NPT cover and will assist when the BTP officers are not available.

Services

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A Abellio ScotRail Class 170 at Stirling
 
The station during electrification works

Trains operate north to Dunblane (three trains per hour), to Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen (hourly), Inverness (four trains per day), south west to Glasgow Queen Street (three trains per hour), and east to Edinburgh Waverley (half-hourly).[12] The service to Alloa and Dunfermline was withdrawn in October 1968, but the reopening of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link partially restored that service with an hourly service from Glasgow to Alloa as an extension of the Croy Line services. This utilises the existing DMU from Glasgow, which previously spent considerable time in one of the bay platforms at Stirling with engines idling, but now utilises the layover time to make the return trip to & from Alloa.

Most services are operated by ScotRail; with two trains per day southbound to London Kings Cross and one train per day northbound to Inverness operated by London North Eastern Railway (a second northbound service terminates at Stirling); and one train per day Sunday – Friday southbound to London Euston and northbound to Inverness operated by Caledonian Sleeper. The station has nine platforms, though they are ordered 2 to 10. The site of Platform 1 is now occupied by a car park; the platforms were not renumbered. The bay platforms at the north end of the station (Platforms 4 and 5) survive but are not available to passenger trains. The bay platforms at the south end of the station (Platforms 7 and 8) are not normally used for weekday services, but the first services of the day use trains that have been stabled there overnight and they have been fitted with passenger information displays.

A major Scottish area timetable recast in 2018 backed by Transport Scotland will see improved journey times from Stirling to both Edinburgh and Glasgow and more frequent services to Gleneagles, Dundee, Perth and Inverness.[13] The lines from Glasgow to Alloa and from Polmont to Dunblane are also due to be resignalled and electrified by 2018 as part of the rolling modernisation work associated with the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme.[needs update]

Summary

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Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Falkirk Grahamston   London North Eastern Railway
East Coast Main Line
  Dunblane or Terminus
Larbert   ScotRail
Edinburgh–Dunblane Line
  Bridge of Allan
Dunblane   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
  Falkirk Grahamston
(Southbound only)
Edinburgh Waverley
(Northbound only)
  Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
  Dunblane
Larbert   ScotRail
Croy Line
  Alloa
  ScotRail
Croy Line
  Bridge of Allan
Glasgow Queen Street   ScotRail
Glasgow to Aberdeen Line
Highland Main Line
  Gleneagles
  Historical railways  
Bannockburn
Line open; Station closed
  Caledonian Railway
Scottish Central Railway
  Bridge of Allan
Line and Station open
Terminus   North British Railway
Stirling and Dunfermline Railway
  Causewayhead (Stirling)
Line open; station closed
Terminus   North British Railway
Forth and Clyde Junction Railway
  Gargunnock
Line and station closed

References

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  1. ^ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
  2. ^ Railscot – Stirling
  3. ^ "STIRLING RAILWAY STATION INCLUDING PLATFORM BUILDINGS, FOOTBRIDGES, MIDDLE SIGNAL BOX, NORTH SIGNAL BOX AND SEMAPHORE SIGNALS". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  4. ^ Peddie, Donald (2023). The Railways of Stirling. Lightmoor Press. pp. 20–22. ISBN 9781915069290.
  5. ^ "Basic site details: Stirling station". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  6. ^ "BR Motorail service pulls out of Stirling". The Herald. Glasgow. 8 February 1989. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Planning Application Summary 12/00157/LBC Replacement of public address system including installation of new speakers on and within station buildings, canopy etc". Stirling Council.
  8. ^ "Stirling station footbridge works set to start". Network Rail Media Centre. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  9. ^ Holden, Michael (11 September 2019). "Stirling work! New bridge officially opens". RailAdvent. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  10. ^ Andrew Heiton - Dictionary of Scottish Architects
  11. ^ "Stirling Railway Station including platform buildings, footbridges, middle signal boxes, north signal box and semaphore signals". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  12. ^ GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Tables 229 & 230
  13. ^ "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback MachineTransport Scotland press release 15 March 2016, Retrieved 18 August 2016

Further reading

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