Ardgay railway station

Ardgay

Scottish Gaelic: Àird Ghaoithe[1]
National Rail
The platforms at Ardgay station, looking south
General information
LocationArdgay, Highland
Scotland
Coordinates57°52′54″N 4°21′44″W / 57.8816°N 4.3622°W / 57.8816; -4.3622
Grid referenceNH600904
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeARD[2]
History
Original companyInverness and Ross-shire Railway / Sutherland Railway
Pre-groupingHighland Railway
Post-groupingLMSR
Key dates
1 October 1864Opened as Bonar Bridge[3]
2 May 1977Renamed as Ardgay[3]
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 6,408
2020/21Decrease 624
2021/22Increase 3,968
2022/23Increase 4,412
2023/24Increase 5,674
Listed Building – Category C(S)
Designated14 September 1988
Reference no.LB7164[4]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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.

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 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
Left arrow Inverness and Ross-shire Railway
Sutherland Railway Right arrow
   Culrain
Line and Station open

References

  1. ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Quick 2022, p. 54.
  4. ^ a b "ARDGAY RAILWAY STATION AND FOOTBRIDGE". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  5. ^ 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. p. 102. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  6. ^ "Inverness and Aberdeen Junction". London Evening Standard. England. 6 October 1864. Retrieved 20 July 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "MHG7377 - Ardgay Station - Highland Historic Environment Record". her.highland.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  8. ^ Brailsford 2017, map 20A.
  9. ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  11. ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 219

Bibliography

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