Taynuilt railway station

Taynuilt railway station is a railway station serving the village of Taynuilt in western Scotland. This station is on the Oban branch of the West Highland Line, originally part of the Callander and Oban Railway, between Falls of Cruachan and Connel Ferry, sited 58 miles 55 chains (94.4 km) from Callander via Glen Ogle.[3] ScotRail manage the station and operate all services.

Taynuilt

Scottish Gaelic: Taigh an Uillt[1]
National Rail
General information
LocationTaynuilt, Argyll and Bute
Scotland
Coordinates56°25′51″N 5°14′22″W / 56.4309°N 5.2394°W / 56.4309; -5.2394
Grid referenceNN003312
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeTAY
History
Original companyCallander and Oban Railway
Pre-groupingCallander and Oban Railway operated by Caledonian Railway
Key dates
1 July 1880,[2]Opened
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 18,416
2020/21Increase 35,054
2021/22Increase 35,456
2022/23Increase 42,026
2023/24Increase 45,776
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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Class 27 in 1979 - the building on the left was destroyed by fire after 1994

Taynuilt station opened on 1 July 1880, when the Callander and Oban Railway was extended from Dalmally to Oban.[4]

The station is laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There are two sidings on the south side of the station.

On 11 January 1987, the crossing loop was altered to right-hand running. The original Down platform has thus become the Up platform, and vice versa. The change was made in order to simplify shunting at this station, by removing the need to hand-pump the train-operated loop points to access the sidings.[citation needed]

Facilities

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Facilities at the station are basic, consisting of shelters on both platforms, a bench on platform 2, bike racks and ca car park adjacent to platform 1 and a help point on the wall of the old signal box. All of the station has step-free access.[5] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

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The increase in station usage recorded in the 2020/21 Office of Rail and Road statistics, at a time when passenger numbers across the UK fell drastically in the Covid-19 pandemic, was attributed[by whom?] to the introduction of school services on the Oban line.[citation needed]

Passenger Volume at Taynuilt[6]
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
Entries and exits 7,537 11,334 9,873 10,005 9,925 10,268 11,364 11,802 11,940 12,980 12,660 21,968 22,226 21,916 24,788 22,472 18,416 35,054 35,456

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

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There are 6 departures in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays, with trains heading eastbound to Glasgow Queen Street and westbound to Oban. On weekdays only, an additional service in each direction between Dalmally and Oban calls here in the late afternoon. On Sundays, there are 3 departures each way throughout the year, but there is a fourth in the summer from late June–August which runs from Edinburgh Waverley to Oban and back.[7][8]

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Falls of Cruachan
or Loch Awe
  ScotRail
West Highland Line
  Connel Ferry
  Historical railways  
Falls of Cruachan
Line and station open
  Callander and Oban Railway
Operated by Caledonian Railway
  Ach-na-Cloich
Line open; station closed

References

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  1. ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. ^ Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick page 445
  3. ^ 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. 87. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  4. ^ Thomas, John; Turnock, David (1989). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 15: North of Scotland. Newton Abbot: David & Charles (Publishers). ISBN 0-946537-03-8.
  5. ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  7. ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218
  8. ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218

Bibliography

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