Ardgay railway station

Ardgay railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ardgay and its neighbour Bonar Bridge in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, 57 miles 70 chains (93.1 km) from Inverness, between Tain and Culrain.^[5] ScotRail, who manage the station, operate all services.

Ardgay Scottish Gaelic: Àird Ghaoithe[1]
The platforms at Ardgay station, looking south
General information
Location	Ardgay, Highland Scotland
Coordinates	57.8816°N 4.3622°W / 57.8816; -4.3622
Grid reference	NH600904
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ARD[2]
History
Original company	Inverness and Ross-shire Railway / Sutherland Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	LMSR
Key dates
1 October 1864	Opened as Bonar Bridge[3]
2 May 1977	Renamed as Ardgay[3]
Passengers
2019/20	6,408
2020/21	624
2021/22	3,968
2022/23	4,412
2023/24	5,674
Listed Building – Category C(S)
Designated	14 September 1988
Reference no.	LB7164[4]
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

A ScotRail Class 158 standing at Ardgay with a service bound for Inverness

Opened on 1 October 1864 as Bonar Bridge by the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway^[3] and designed by Joseph Mitchell,^[6][4] it became the meeting point of the Sutherland Railway and the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway. It was renamed Ardgay on 2 May 1977.^[7][3]

Platform layout

The station has a passing loop 32 chains (640 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the southbound line can accommodate trains having ten coaches, but platform 2 on the northbound line can only hold five.^[8]

Facilities

Both platforms have benches, but only platform 1 has a designated waiting area, as seen in the photo on the left. Platform 2 also has a help point, and there is a car park and bike racks adjacent to it. Platform 2 has step-free access, but platform 1 can only be accessed from the footbridge.^[9] 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 Ardgay^[10]

	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	2022–23
Entries and exits	2,503	2,297	3,067	3,964	5,851	6,516	7,388	7,404	8,890	8,108	8,806	8,416	6,732	7,144	7,140	6,998	6,408	624	3,968	4,412

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

A ScotRail Class 158 arriving at Ardgay with a service bound for Wick

On Mondays to Saturdays, there are seven trains a day southbound to Inverness and five a day northbound, four of which continue on to Wick (the other terminates here). On Sundays, there is one train in each direction.^[11]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Tain		ScotRail Far North Line		Culrain or Lairg or Terminates here
	Historical railways
Mid Fearn Halt Line open; Station closed		Highland Railway Inverness and Ross-shire Railway Sutherland Railway		Culrain Line and Station open