Dunblane railway station

Dunblane National Rail

The now demolished pedestrian overpass
Location
Place Dunblane
Local authority Stirling
Coordinates 56°11′09″N 3°57′57″W / 56.1857°N 3.9657°W / 56.1857; -3.9657Coordinates: 56°11′09″N 3°57′57″W / 56.1857°N 3.9657°W / 56.1857; -3.9657
Grid reference NN780009
Operations
Station code DBL
Managed by Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms 3
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 0.498 million
2011/12 Decrease 0.495 million
2012/13 Increase 0.504 million
2013/14 Increase 0.509 million
2014/15 Increase 0.534 million
History
Original company Scottish Central Railway and Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway
Pre-grouping Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping LMSR
22 May 1848 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 Dunblane from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Southbound train in Strathclyde Partnership for Transport colours

Dunblane railway station serves the town of Dunblane in central Scotland. It is located on the former Scottish Central Railway, between Stirling and Perth and opened with the line in 1848.[1]

Facilities

It has three platforms, one which serves as a terminus for trains from Glasgow (Queen Street) and Edinburgh, one which serves trains heading north to Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness and the third that serves trains heading south to Glasgow and Edinburgh. These include those that terminate at Dunblane, which travel up the northbound line to the signal box to reverse & cross over to the southbound track before heading back down to the station.The signal box in question now operates only the points and signals here.

The station is staffed by one person who runs the ticket office and does most jobs around the station. Several plants have been placed around the station by a voluntary group known as 'Dunblane in Bloom'.

In September 2014, a new footbridge opened with the original footbridge removed.[2]

Services

The train operating company that serves Dunblane station is Abellio ScotRail. Trains generally leave for Edinburgh at 28 and 58 minutes past the hour, and for Glasgow Queen Street at 13 minutes past the hour, though this is supplemented by trains from the north. These trains serve all intermediate stations en route, whereas the services from further afield serve principal stations only.[3]

Four trains each way between Glasgow Queen Street and Inverness, 146 miles (235 km) away, stop here along with a number of services to either Dundee or Aberdeen.[4]

On Sundays, there is an local hourly service to Edinburgh and hourly calls each way by the Aberdeen to Glasgow service, along with three Inverness to Glasgow (and vice versa) services. The southbound Virgin Trains East Coast service between Inverness and London Kings Cross also stops here.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Bridge of Allan   Abellio ScotRail
Edinburgh–Dunblane Line
   Gleneagles
Bridge of Allan   Abellio ScotRail
Croy Line
   Terminus
Stirling   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper		   Gleneagles
Stirling   Virgin Trains East Coast
East Coast Main Line		   Gleneagles
Historical railways
Bridge of Allan
Line and Station open		   Scottish Central Railway
Caledonian Railway
   Kinbuck
Line open; Station closed
Terminus   Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway
Caledonian Railway
   Doune
Line and Station closed

Train types

Abellio ScotRail trains serving Dunblane are all DMUs. These consist mainly of Class 158 and Class 170 sets. Some services are still operated by a Class 156. The only exception to this is the Caledonian Sleeper service from Inverness to London Euston, which is a loco hauled rake of Mk2 and Mk3 coaches.

The Virgin Trains East Coast that stops here is operated by HST sets, made up of a pair of Class 43 power cars and nine Mk3 coaches.

Future Improvements

The lines from both Edinburgh & Glasgow via Stirling are due to be electrified by 2018 as part of the modernisation work associated with the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, which will see track layout changes and re-signalling work take place here.[5]

Once this project is completed, a major timetable recast will follow - this will lead to reduced journey times to both main cities and a more frequent service to Perth & Dundee.[6]

Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway

Dunblane used to be a junction where the present line and the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway diverged. This connected at Callander to the Callander and Oban Railway. The line was axed in the Beeching cuts, being formally closed on 1 November 1965 (although traffic beyond Callander had ended five weeks earlier due to a landslide in Glen Ogle).[7]

Parts of the trackbed from near Dunblane to Doune and from Callander to Killin are now cycle paths.

A short section of track remains on the branch, and is used for storing track maintenance machines, or sometimes even a DMU.

References

  1. ↑ Railscot - Scottish Central Railway Railscot; Retrieved 2014-01-28
  2. ↑ Dumblane station's new £3m footbridge opens for Ryder Cup Network Rail 23 September 2014
  3. ↑ GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16, Table 230 (Network Rail)
  4. ↑ GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16, Table 229 (Network Rail)
  5. ↑ "Electrification Programme"Transport Scotland; Retrieved 18 August 2016
  6. ↑ "‘Revolution In Rail’ To Bring New Services And Faster Trains"Evening Express news article 15 March 2016; Retrieved 18 August 2016
  7. ↑ Railscot Chronology - Dunblane, Doune & Callander Railway Railscot; Retrieved 2014-01-28
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