Dumbarton Central Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Breatann Meadhain[1]
View of Dumbarton Central station, looking east
General information
Location	Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire Scotland
Coordinates	55°56′47″N 4°34′02″W / 55.9465°N 4.5673°W / 55.9465; -4.5673
Grid reference	NS397755
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	DBC
Fare zone	D2
History
Original company	Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway & Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway & North British Railway
Post-grouping	LMS & LNER
Key dates
15 July 1850	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	0.718 million
Interchange	0.103 million
2020/21	75,242
Interchange	8,003
2021/22	0.310 million
Interchange	53,273
2022/23	0.399 million
Interchange	50,889
2023/24	0.461 million
Interchange	57,956
Listed Building – Category A
Designated	31 January 1984
Reference no.	LB24877[2]
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Dumbarton Central railway station serves the town of Dumbarton in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line and the North Clyde Line, 15+3⁄4 miles (25.3 km) northwest of Glasgow Queen Street.

The station was opened on 15 July 1850 by the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway^{[citation needed]} on their route from Balloch Pier to Bowling, where travellers could join steamships on the River Clyde to get to Glasgow. Connections with the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway at Dalreoch Junction and at Bowling put the station on a through route between Glasgow Queen Street and Helensburgh Central by 1858. The company was subsequently absorbed by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in 1862 and eventually became part of the North British Railway three years later. However, in 1891, the North British was forced to come to an agreement with the rival Caledonian Railway to give the latter access to Balloch (and the Loch Lomond steamships) over C&DJR metals in order to prevent the building of a competing route by the Caledonian company - this resulted in the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway arriving from Possil via Maryhill Central in 1896.^{[citation needed]} Trains on the West Highland Railway also began serving the station following its completion on 1 August 1894 and these continue to call here to this day.

The station was built with two island platforms to permit convenient interchange between the various services that called, although only three faces remain in use (the former down loop on the southbound side having been removed). The Helensburgh and Balloch lines were electrified by British Railways as part of the 1960 North Clyde Line electrification scheme, but most of the L&DR route was closed (other than the short section through neighbouring Dumbarton East) when passenger services to Possil via Dalmuir Riverside were withdrawn on 5 October 1964 as a result of the Beeching Axe. As of 2022, the loop platform on the south side of the station receives no regular services.^[3]

It is a category A listed building under the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.^[4]

The statistics cover twelve-month periods that start in April.

The station is located on the North Clyde line, with frequent services to Helensburgh, Balloch, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and it is the last station on the North Clyde line where trains on the West Highland line between Glasgow and Oban and Mallaig call before diverging from the line just before Craigendoran.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd) is:^[6]

• 2 tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Glasgow Queen Street (low-level) (semi-fast)
• 2 tph to Airdie via Singer and Glasgow Queen Street (low-level)
• 2 tph to Balloch
• 2 tph to Helensburgh Central
• 6 tpd to Glasgow Queen Street (fast)
• 6 tpd to Oban, of which 3 have a portion which divides at Crianlarich and runs to Mallaig via Fort William

On Sunday, the services to Airdrie do not operate, with the service to Edinburgh Waverley instead calling at stations via Singer. However, there are also 2 tph via Yoker and Glasgow Central, running alternately to Motherwell via Whifflet, or to Larkhall. The service between Oban and Glasgow Queen Street is reduced to 3 trains per day, 2 of which include a portion to Mallaig.

The Highland Sleeper service also calls in each direction daily (except Saturday nights southbound and Sunday mornings northbound), giving the station a direct link to/from London Euston via Edinburgh Waverley, Crewe and the West Coast Main Line, and providing an additional service to Fort William.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Dalmuir		ScotRail West Highland Line		Helensburgh Upper
Dalmuir		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Helensburgh Upper
Dumbarton East		ScotRail North Clyde Line		Dalreoch
	Historical railways
Dumbarton East Line and Station open		Caledonian Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway		Terminus
Bowling Line closed; Station open		Caledonian & North British Railway Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway		Dalreoch Line and Station open

• 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.

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