Garelochhead railway station

Garelochhead railway station (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Gheàrrloch) is a railway station serving the village of Garelochhead, on the Gare Loch, in Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line and is a boundary station for SPT. It is sited 8 miles 76 chains (14.4 km) from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh, between Arrochar and Tarbet and Helensburgh Upper.^[4] ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, with others provided by Caledonian Sleeper.

Garelochhead Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Gheàrrloch[1]
View north towards Arrochar & Tarbet
General information
Location	Garelochhead, Argyll and Bute Scotland
Coordinates	56.0801°N 4.8254°W / 56.0801; -4.8254
Grid reference	NS242910
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	GCH[2]
History
Original company	West Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
Key dates
7 August 1894	Opened
Passengers
2018/19	8,818
2019/20	8,594
2020/21	1,678
2021/22	8,478
2022/23	10,030
Listed Building – Category B
Designated	8 July 1988
Reference no.	LB19490[3]
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station seen in 1996. Note the overgrown siding on the right.

This station opened to passengers on 7 August 1894.^[5]

The station was laid out with a crossing loop and an island platform. There were sidings on both sides, and a turntable on the west side of the line.^[6]

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939.^[7] A camping coach was also positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1964 to 1967.^[8]

Until the 1960s, the station was served by a local shuttle service between Craigendoran and Arrochar & Tarbet in addition to main line trains to Fort William and Mallaig. Latterly operated by a Wickham diesel railbus, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in June 1964.^[9]

Facilities

The island platform is equipped with benches, a help point, a car park and bike racks, the latter two located outside the station. The only access to the station is via a subway, some steps and a ramp, so the station does not have step-free access.^[10] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Garelochhead^[11]

	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	2021-22
Entries and exits	3,868	4,824	5,940	5,269	5,156	5,374	4,706	5,040	5,122	5,682	5,256	6,920	7,806	8,556	9,796	8,818	8,594	1,678	8,478	10,030

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

Monday to Saturday, there are six services to Oban and three to Mallaig (the latter combined with Oban portions, dividing at Crianlarich), and one service to Fort William (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper, weekday mornings only) northbound. Southbound, there are six services to Glasgow Queen Street High Level and one service to London Euston via Queen Street Low Level & Edinburgh Waverley (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper - does not run on Saturday).

On Sundays, there are two trains northbound to Mallaig, the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William and one extra to Oban only, plus an extra summer service to Oban; Southbound there are three trains southbound to Glasgow Queen Street. In summer months, the extra summer Sunday service returns to Edinburgh, avoiding Glasgow.^[12][13][14]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Helensburgh Upper		ScotRail West Highland Line		Arrochar & Tarbet
Helensburgh Upper		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Arrochar & Tarbet
	Historical railways
Shandon Line open; Station closed		West Highland Railway North British Railway		Whistlefield Halt Line open; Station closed

References

1. Brailsford (2017), Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
3. Historic Environment Scotland. "GARELOCHHEAD STATION INCLUDING SIGNAL BOX, SUBWAY, GATES AND RAILINGS (LB19490)". Retrieved 15 April 2019.
4. 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. pp. 83, 88. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
5. Butt (1995), p. 101.
6. "Garelochhead station on OS 25inch map Dumbartonshire nIX.12 (Rhu; Rosneath)". National Library of Scotland. 1918. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
7. McRae (1997), p. 11.
8. McRae (1998), p. 28.
9. "The 'Wee Arrochar'". Helensburgh Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
10. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
11. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
12. eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218
13. eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218
14. eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 220

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.
• McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
• McRae, Andrew (1998). British Railways Camping Coach Holidays: A Tour of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part Two). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-53-3.
• 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

• Train times and station information for Garelochhead railway station from National Rail
• RAILSCOT on the West Highland Railway Archived 1 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine