Inverkip railway station

Inverkip
Inverkip railway station
Location
Place	Inverkip
Local authority	Inverclyde
Coordinates	55°54′22″N 4°52′21″W / 55.9060°N 4.8724°WCoordinates: 55°54′22″N 4°52′21″W / 55.9060°N 4.8724°W
Grid reference	NS205718
Operations
Station code	INP
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms	1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	29,200
2004/05	35,943
2005/06	41,279
2006/07	44,311
2007/08	47,192
2008/09	54,166
2009/10	50,792
2010/11	55,702
2011/12	59,260
2012/13	67,830
2013/14	74,688
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Inverkip from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Inverkip railway station is a railway station serving the village of Inverkip, Inverclyde, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Inverclyde Line, 28¾ miles (46 km) west of Glasgow Central.

The embankment is all that remains of the former Down platform. All of the station buildings have now been removed and replaced with a bus shelter. The flats in the background (known as The Kyles) are built in what was the station goods yard. There was also a coal yard located in this area. Inverkip also had its own signal box, located at the end of the down platform. In the 1950s and 1960s, an old railway carriage was located in the goods yard and used as a camping coach. At the further end of the yard area, where the housing development is located, are the parapets of a metal overbridge, presumably used to move goods across from the up platform.

The station, built in 1867, was substantially modified in 2012 to accommodate the erection of a footbridge with an integrated lift. This structure was required as a planning permission clause related to the construction of a new housing estate in the fields across the line from the station. It was not possible to fit a ramped bridge in the available space, hence the need for a lift, making Inverkip one of the few unmanned stations in Scotland to have a lift (other examples can be found at Prestwick International Airport and Edinburgh Park). The shelter was replaced and relocated further west and the steps from station Avenue were relocated slightly further east. Temporary steps were put in place during the year-long construction project. The lift serves the platform level and the footbridge level. Strangely, it is necessary to exit the station in order to access the steps to the footbridge since there are no steps directly from the platform to the bridge. There are no steps to the bridge on the other side of the line due to the steep embankment there.

Groundworks for the footbridge started in 2011, with the main span being lifted into place in the early hours of 15 July 2012. The bridge was formally opened in December 2012. A Park & Ride car park with 26 spaces was also opened across the line from the station at that time.

Services

There is an hourly service daily from Inverkip, westbound to Wemyss Bay and eastbound to Glasgow Central.

Gallery

• 

  The western end of the tunnels which run beneath the steeply sloped Commoncraig. The tunnel on the right has been out of use since electrification of the Wemyss Bay line in 1966.

• 

  This was once a fairly grand station with two platforms, substantial buildings and a goods yard. It is now reduced to one platform with bus shelter. Dunrod Hill is visible in the distance, beyond the trees.

External links

• Train times and station information for Inverkip railway station from National Rail