Gleneagles railway station

56°16′30″N 3°43′52″W / 56.2750°N 3.7310°W / 56.2750; -3.7310Grid referenceNN929105Managed byScotRailPlatforms2Other informationStation codeGLEHistoryOriginal companyScottish Central RailwayPre-groupingCaledonian RailwayPost-groupingLMSRKey dates14 March 1856Opened as Crieff Junction1 April 1912Renamed GleneaglesPassengers2018/19 77,9982019/20 87,7722020/21 12,1602021/22 65,6802022/23 76,370

Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Gleneagles railway station serves the town of Auchterarder in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

History

The station was opened by the Scottish Central Railway on 14 March 1856 and was originally named Crieff Junction.^[2] There was another station with the name of Crieff Junction to the north of this station which was only short-lived. The branch northwestward to Crieff was opened (by the Crieff Junction Railway company) on the same day. On 1 April 1912 it was renamed Gleneagles.^[3]

The station was rebuilt and the junction remodelled by the Caledonian Railway in 1919 following their takeover of the Scottish Central Railway. The Caledonian Railway built the nearby Gleneagles Hotel, which opened in 1925. The hotel served as the location for the G8 summit in 2005 and is a well-known golf resort; Gleneagles hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup.

In anticipation of the 2014 Ryder Cup, Gleneagles railway station underwent a major refurbishment as part of a £7 million program to improve transport infrastructure in the area. Work was completed in April 2014, seeing the old station building regenerated with a lift, new platforms built upon the original ones, the fitting of Passenger information boards, additional regenerative paint work and a newly built car park built to connect with the new main road from the motorway.^[4]

The branch line to Crieff closed on 6 July 1964 due to the Beeching Axe.

Services

On weekdays and Saturdays there is a basic hourly service to Glasgow Queen Street southbound and to Perth northbound; most of these continue to Dundee.^[5] A few early morning and late evening trains run through to Aberdeen. On Sundays, an irregular service is provided by calls on certain Glasgow to Aberdeen or Inverness trains.

Gleneagles is also served by the daily Highland Chieftain through service between Inverness and London King's Cross and the Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston each evening except Saturdays. Connections for Edinburgh Waverley are available at Stirling at other times.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Dunblane		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Perth
Dunblane		ScotRail Highland Main Line		Perth
Dunblane		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Perth
	Historical railways
Blackford Line open; Station closed		Caledonian Railway Scottish Central Railway		Auchterarder Line open; Station closed
Terminus		Caledonian Railway Crieff Junction Railway		Tullibardine Line and Station closed

See also

• Public transport in Perth and Kinross

References

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.
• Marshall, Peter (1998). The Scottish Central Railway: Perth to Stirling. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-8536-1522-5.

External links

• Video footage of Gleneagles Railway station