Milngavie railway station

Milngavie
Scottish Gaelic: Muileann-Gaidh
Location
Place	Milngavie
Local authority	East Dunbartonshire
Coordinates	55°56′28″N 4°18′52″W / 55.9412°N 4.3145°WCoordinates: 55°56′28″N 4°18′52″W / 55.9412°N 4.3145°W
Grid reference	NS555744
Operations
Station code	MLN
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.603 million
2005/06	0.717 million
2006/07	0.754 million
2007/08	0.781 million
2008/09	0.845 million
2009/10	0.824 million
2010/11	0.861 million
2011/12	0.905 million
History
28 August 1863	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Milngavie from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Milngavie railway station serves the town of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow in Scotland. The station is 8½ miles (14 km) north west of Glasgow Central on the Argyle Line and 9 miles (14.5 km) north west of Glasgow Queen Street on the North Clyde Line.

Its principal purpose today is as a commuter station for people working in Glasgow city centre. The station itself is a category B listed building.^[1] Milngavie station is generally well kept and has had a history of winning many awards and commendations for the quality of the flower baskets and tubs in station garden competitions.

The station is the usual access point for the 95-mile (153 km) long West Highland Way long distance footpath which officially starts in Milngavie town centre, marked by a granite obelisk. The first few hundred yards of the way follow the line of short spur of the railway originally built to serve the Ellangowan Paper Mills.

History

Milngavie station in April 1974

The station was opened on 28 August 1863, and was then part of the Glasgow and Milngavie Junction Railway. Originally built with three platforms, one platform has since been removed. The land where the third platform once stood has been sold and is now the site of a Kwik-Fit garage. The double track line from Hillfoot station was singled in 1990.

Facilities

Milngavie station has a ticket office, staff facilities, and disabled access. There is no taxi rank, but there is a regular bus service operating from the bus stop outside the station entrance. A pedestrian underpass links the station to the town centre, which is also pedestrianised, and the southern end of the West Highland Way long distance footpath to Fort William.

Signalling

Milngavie signal box was situated to the south of the station, on the east side of the railway. It opened in 1900 when the line was doubled. A new lever frame with 35 levers was installed in 1959.

The signal box was closed on 21 October 1990 under a resignalling scheme that saw control of the whole North Clyde Line transferred to Yoker Signalling Centre.

Services

Passenger services are operated by Abellio ScotRail with assistance from Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. Trains to Glasgow operate on a regular schedule, with a departure once every 15 minutes on weekdays. Two trains per hour go to Edinburgh Waverley via Glasgow Queen Street and Bathgate (limited stop) on the North Clyde Line, while the other two travel to Motherwell via Glasgow Central and Hamilton Central on the Argyle Line (with one train an hour continuing to Cumbernauld). In the evenings and on Sundays a half-hourly service operates via Glasgow Central to Motherwell via Hamilton. Return services on the Argyle Line arrive from Whifflet with every other train starting back from Motherwell (except on Sundays). Services are operated by Class 318, Class 320 and Class 334 electric multiple units.

References

1. Historic Scotland HB Number 37852. Retrieved 2009-04-01