railroad.wikisort.org - Station

Aviemore railway station serves the town and tourist resort of Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. The station, which is owned by Network Rail (NR) and managed by ScotRail, is on the Highland Main Line, 83 miles 31 chains (134.2 kilometres) from Perth, between Kingussie and Carrbridge, and is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey preserved railway.[4]

Aviemore Scottish Gaelic: An Aghaidh Mhòr[1]
Aviemore railway station in 2018
General information
Location	Aviemore, Highland Scotland
Coordinates	57.1886°N 3.8288°W / 57.1886; -3.8288
Grid reference	NH895123
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	3 (2 Network Rail) (1 Strathspey Railway)
Other information
Station code	AVM[2]
History
Original company	Inverness & Perth Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
3 August 1863	Station opened
1898	Station rebuilt and expanded
Passengers
2016/17	0.145 million
Interchange	50
2017/18	0.148 million
Interchange	44
2018/19	0.138 million
Interchange	52
2019/20	0.133 million
Interchange	177
2020/21	25,492
Interchange	8
Listed Building – Category A
Designated	18 August 1986
Reference no.	LB257[3]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The line was opened by the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway (I&PJR) in 1863,[5] subsequently becoming part of the Highland Railway.

The current station was opened in 1898,^{[citation needed]} to designs by the architect William Roberts[6] when the "direct" line to Inverness via Slochd was built, making Aviemore an important junction and replacing the original 1863 building. William Roberts also provided an engine shed to the north of the station in 1896.

It became part of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway after the Grouping of 1923, then passed on to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The original I&PJR line to Forres fell victim to the Beeching cuts, closing to passengers in October 1965.

When Sectorisation was introduced by British Rail in the 1980s, the station was served by Scotrail until the privatisation of British Rail.

In 1998 the station was restored and refurbished, and the Strathspey Railway was finally allowed to use the island platform.[7] Following the moving of services, the Strathspey Railway closed their Aviemore (Speyside) railway station. The platform remains, as fears over asbestos contamination have stalled its removal. The original footbridge also still stands but is unsafe.

Facilities

The new building on the northbound platform of the main line comprises a ticket hall, booking office and shop, and the three original buildings are waiting rooms (with historical displays), staff offices, and toilets. Parking is on the station's west side, and passenger access to the Strathspey part of the station is via a foot-crossing across the junction spur. This foot crossing also provides disabled access to platform 2.[8] As there are no ticket machines, if the ticket office is closed, passengers must buy one in advance.

Platform layout

The station has a passing loop 40 chains (800 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the down (northbound) line can accommodate trains having fourteen coaches, whereas platform 2 on the up (southbound) line can hold fifteen.[9] The junction between the Strathspey Railway and Network Rail lies to the south of the station and was controlled from the station signal box, which also controlled a large portion of the main line either side of here (from Kingussie all the way to Culloden Moor since 1979) as well as the immediate station area.[10] The station was resignalled and the loop extended in 2019, which also saw the signal box closed with control transferring to Inverness.[11]

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Aviemore[12]

	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
Entries and exits	101,294	115,431	121,090	124,972	132,336	132,052	136,456	141,311	150,724	152,082	145,200	147,964	138,490	132,618	25,492
Interchanges	45	113	86	72	72	14	59	82	37	56	50	44	52	177	8

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

Services are provided by ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, and London North Eastern Railway on the Highland Main Line, and Strathspey Railway on the former Inverness & Perth Junction Railway to Boat of Garten and Broomhill.

In the May 2022 timetable, there are five trains each weekday to Edinburgh Waverley (including the Highland Chieftain to London King's Cross) and seven to Glasgow Queen Street southbound, plus the overnight sleeper to London Euston (the latter does not run southbound on Saturday nights or northbound on Sundays). Northbound there are eleven departures to Inverness.

On Sundays there are five trains to Edinburgh (including the King's Cross service) and two to Glasgow, along with seven to Inverness, two of which extend to Elgin.[13]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Kingussie		ScotRail Highland Main Line		Carrbridge or Inverness
Kingussie		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Carrbridge or Inverness
Kingussie		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Carrbridge or Inverness
	Heritage railways
Terminus		Strathspey Railway		Boat of Garten
	Historical railways
Kincraig Line open; station closed		Highland Railway Inverness & Perth Junction Railway		Boat of Garten Line and station open
		Highland Railway Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway		Carrbridge Line and station open

Future proposals

In the future,^[when?] this station will be one of those to benefit from a package of timetable enhancements introduced by Transport Scotland and Scotrail. The current Perth to Inverness timetable will increase to hourly each way, with trains south of there running on alternate hours to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Journey times will be reduced by 10 minutes to both cities.[14] As of May 2022, this has still not taken place.[13]

References

Bibliography

• Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.

External links

• Station on navigable O.S. map
• RAILSCOT on Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway
• RAILSCOT on Inverness and Perth Junction Railway
• Video footage of Aviemore Railway Station

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