Shortly after leaving the station, heading west towards Dumfries, the line crosses a viaduct over the River Annan and adjoining flood plains. Also, situated just to the west of the station, is a disused junction and former alignment of a line which used to head south to the Cochran's Boiler Plant at Newbie.
In 1975, the station became the western end of a single line section to Gretna Green, as part of the route rationalisation carried out by British Rail, following the electrification of the West Coast Main Line and re-signalling scheme, with control shared between the power box at Carlisle and the signal box at the station.
However, the second track was reinstated by Network Rail in 2008,[2][3][4] to assist in managing the increased traffic levels, mainly consisting of train loads of imported coal from Hunterston Terminal to power stations in the East Midlands and West Yorkshire.
When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by ScotRail until the privatisation of British Rail. Until the early 1980s, the goods yard at the station was still in regular use. The station was also used to dispatch fresh fish to London until the mid–to–late 1980s.
The town was previously served by a second railway station, Annan Shawhill, which was opened by the Solway Junction Railway on 8 August 1870. It closed to passengers on 27 April 1931, and to goods traffic in 1955. It was situated on the long-disused Solway Junction Railway, which ran between Kirtlebridge and Maryport, operating across the Solway Firth.
Newbie Junction Halt was located to the west of the Annan Viaduct, and briefly (between 1898–1904) served a nearby boiler factory, as well as a brick and tile works. Trains called in the mornings and evenings, for workers only.
Services
Following the May 2021 timetable change, there is a mostly an uneven hourly to 2 hourly service (Monday to Saturday) heading north-west towards Dumfries, with seven trains of these to Glasgow Central via Kilmarnock. On Sunday, there are five trains per day to Dumfries, two of which extend to Glasgow Central. Heading south-east towards Carlisle, there is an mostly hourly service. All trains are operated by ScotRail.
Services running through Carlisle to Newcastle were stopped at the May 2022 timetable change.[5]
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. ISBN978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC22311137.
Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC228266687.
