Tyndrum Lower railway station

Tyndrum Lower

Scottish Gaelic: Taigh an Droma Ìochdrach[1]
National Rail
General information
LocationTyndrum, Stirling
Scotland
Coordinates56°26′01″N 4°42′49″W / 56.4336°N 4.7135°W / 56.4336; -4.7135
Grid referenceNN327301
Managed byScotRail
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeTYL
History
Original companyCallander and Oban Railway
Pre-groupingCallander and Oban Railway operated by Caledonian Railway
Post-groupingLMS
Key dates
1 August 1873Original terminus opened as Tyndrum[2]
1 May 1877Original terminus closed[2]
1 May 1877Through station opened as Tyndrum[2]
28 February 1956Renamed as Tyndrum Lower[2]
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 5,128
2020/21Decrease 858
2021/22Increase 3,386
 Interchange 829
2022/23Increase 4,650
 Interchange Increase 1,343
2023/24Increase 6,382
 Interchange Increase 1,506
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Tyndrum Lower railway station is one of two railway stations serving the small village of Tyndrum in Scotland, the other being Upper Tyndrum. This station is on the Oban branch of the West Highland Line, originally part of the Callander and Oban Railway. It is sited 34 miles 70 chains (56.1 km) from Callander via Glen Ogle, between Crianlarich and Dalmally.[3] ScotRail manage the station and operate all services.

History

Train stopping at Tyndrum Lower with a service from Glasgow Queen Street to Oban (1986)

This station opened on 1 August 1873 as a terminal station. This was the first railway station in the village of Tyndrum. Until 1877, it was the western extremity of the Callander and Oban Railway.[4]

In 1877, the Callander and Oban Railway was extended from Tyndrum to Dalmally. Concurrently, the station was relocated 301 yards (275 m) west,[2] onto the new through alignment. The new station was on a higher level, as the line had to climb steeply to reach the summit about 0.6 miles (1 km) to the west. The old terminus then became the goods yard. The through station was originally laid out with two platforms, one on each side of a passing loop.

In 1894, the West Highland Railway opened a second station in Tyndrum, north of the village. In 1953, the suffixes "Upper" and "Lower" were added to the station names. Services to Callander & Dunblane over the old C&O route via Strathyre ceased on 27 September 1965 - they had been scheduled for withdrawal as a result of the Beeching Axe from 1 November that year, but ended five weeks prior to that date following a landslide in Glen Ogle that blocked the trackbed.[5] All services henceforth used the 1897 connection to the WHR at Crianlarich Upper to reach Glasgow.

Facilities

The station is equipped with a shelter, a bench, bike racks, a help point and a car park, to which there is step-free access from the platform.[6] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

In the 2006-07 period, the station was apparently the least used station in Scotland, which may have been down to calculations from tickets which show "Tyndrum stations", which are valid to either here or Upper Tyndrum.[citation needed]

Passenger Volume at Tyndrum Lower[7]
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
Entries and exits 6,937 8,057 7,481 17 4,577 4,552 4,146 3,856 3,698 3,928 4,082 5,334 5,488 5,510 5,364 5,996 5,128 858 3,386
Interchanges N/A 1,399 302 829

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

Six trains in each direction call Mondays to Saturdays, with three departures each way on Sundays all year. There is an additional train each way in summer only, which runs from/to Edinburgh Waverley (rather than Glasgow Queen Street).[8][9]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Crianlarich   ScotRail
West Highland Line
  Dalmally
  Historical railways  
Crianlarich
Line and station open
  Callander and Oban Railway
Crianlarich Link Line
Operated by Caledonian Railway
  Dalmally
Line and station open
Crianlarich Lower
Line and station closed
  Callander and Oban Railway
Operated by Caledonian Railway
 

References

  1. ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. ^ a b c d e Butt (1995), page 236
  3. ^ 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. pp. 87, 88. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  4. ^ Thomas, John (1965). The West Highland Railway (3rd ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 30. ISBN 0-946537-14-3.
  5. ^ "Callander and Oban Railway" Speller,J Spellerweb.net; Retrieved 26 August 2016
  6. ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  8. ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218
  9. ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218

Bibliography