Kilwinning railway station is a railway station serving the town of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line 26 miles (42 km) south of Glasgow Central, as well as the Glasgow South Western Line 69 miles (111 km) north of Stranraer. British Transport Police maintain an office here.

Kilwinning Scottish Gaelic: Cill D'Fhinnein[1]
Overview of Kilwinning railway station. The Ayr platforms are on the right but the Largs/Ardrossan platforms are to the left.
General information
Location	Kilwinning, North Ayrshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.6561°N 4.7096°W / 55.6561; -4.7096
Grid reference	NS295436
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	KWN
History
Original company	Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway
Pre-grouping	Glasgow and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
23 March 1840[2]	Opened
Passengers
2016/17	1.017 million
2017/18	1.043 million
2018/19	1.008 million
2019/20	0.938 million
2020/21	0.111 million
Interchange	11,247
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station has the most frequent service in Ayrshire, being served by all trains on both the Ayr main line and the branches to Ardrossan Harbour and Largs, with the sole exception of 1K49 17:47 Glasgow Central to Ayr which runs non-stop from Paisley to Irvine.[3]

History

The station was opened on 23 March 1840 by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway[2] and was built as an interchange, seeing traffic coming from Glasgow, Ayr and Ardrossan (and later Largs).

Station facilities

The station is located on Byers Road about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) from the town centre. There is a staffed ticket office(manned Monday - Saturday 06:05 - 23:30 Sunday 08:50- 23:30). a toilet, a kiosk, a waiting room and a ticket vending machine. Train running information is offered via digital CIS displays, automated announcements, timetable posters and customer help points on each platform. In 2012, a new 130-space car park opened. In 2019 the station went under accessibility upgrades to add lifts to a new crossbridge and step-free access to all platforms.[4]

Station usage

The station is popular with commuters travelling to Glasgow from Ayrshire and beyond. It is the last stop before the Ayrshire Coast line splits in two, so trains stop at this station more than any other in Ayrshire.

British Transport Police

The station houses a Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) from the British Transport Police. Officers from Kilwinning cover all stations south of Kilwinning and north of Kilwinning until Lochwinnoch; Police Scotland officers will cover if British Transport Police officers are not available.

Bus services

Most buses do not come into the station forecourt, but there is a bus stop 100 yards (90 m) north of the station.

Services

2018

• 6 trains per hour to Glasgow Central (2 direct, 2 semi-fast and 2 all stops).
• 4 trains per hour to Ayr.
• 5 trains per day to Edinburgh Waverley.
• 1 train per hour to Largs.
• 1 train per hour to Ardrossan Harbour.

Stopping patterns on the Glasgow service vary – 2 trains per hour call at all stations to Paisley Gilmour Street, whilst two others run non-stop and the remainder serve principal stations only.[3]

The Sunday service is:

• 3 trains per hour to Glasgow Central
• 2 trains per hour to Ayr
• 1 train per hour to Largs
• 4 trains per day to Ardrossan Harbour

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Stevenston		ScotRail Ayrshire Coast Line		Dalry or Glasgow Central or Johnstone
Irvine		ScotRail Ayrshire Coast Line
	Historical railways
Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier 1947 - 1960 Line and station closed		British Railways Montgomerie Pier Branch		Connection with Ardrossan Railway at Stevenston No. 1 Jct.
Stevenston Line and station open		Glasgow and South Western Railway Ardrossan Railway		Dalry Junction Line open; station closed
Bogside Line open; station closed		Glasgow and South Western Railway Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway

Rail and sea connections

Northern Ireland

Trains connect Ayr along the Glasgow South Western Line to Stranraer where a bus link runs: route 350 operated by Macleans Coaches (except Sundays) to Cairnryan.[5] for onward ferries to the Port of Belfast by Stena Line and Larne Harbour by P&O Ferries.

Former connection closed in 2016: along the Ayrshire Coast Line to Troon for the P&O Ferries service to Larne Harbour.

Isle of Arran

Trains also connect along the Ayrshire Coast Line to Ardrossan Harbour for the Caledonian MacBrayne service to Brodick.

References

Notes

Sources

• 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 (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

• Video footage - History of Kilwinning Station.

Media related to Kilwinning railway station at Wikimedia Commons