Inverkeithing railway station

Inverkeithing

Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Chèitinn[1]
National Rail
Looking south from the station footbridge
General information
LocationInverkeithing, Fife
Scotland
Coordinates56°02′06″N 3°23′43″W / 56.0351°N 3.3954°W / 56.0351; -3.3954
Grid referenceNT131833
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeINK
Key dates
1 November 1877[2]Opened
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 1.138 million
 Interchange Decrease 88,130
2020/21Decrease 0.156 million
 Interchange Decrease 9,986
2021/22Increase 0.645 million
 Interchange Increase 42,237
2022/23Increase 0.746 million
 Interchange Decrease 32,181
2023/24Increase 0.873 million
 Interchange Increase 43,448
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Inverkeithing railway station serves the town of Inverkeithing in Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 10 miles (16 km) north west of Edinburgh Waverley. The station is popular with commuters travelling to Edinburgh from Fife and beyond, thanks to its location beside the M90 motorway.

The station is served by ScotRail, LNER, CrossCountry and Caledonian Sleeper services. South of Inverkeithing the line continues towards Edinburgh via the nearby Forth Bridge, and north of the station, the Fife Circle Line splits in two - the main line continuing along the coast via Aberdour whilst the branch heads inland via Dunfermline.

History

It opened in 1877, at the same time as the tracks of the Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway. In the 1880s it was taken over by the North British Railway, and reopened in 1890 as a more significant double-track station on the approach to the newly built Forth Bridge.[3]

Facilities

Two large free of charge park and ride car parks are provided: Belleknowes car park and King Street car park. A third car park, Chapel Place Car Park, has electric vehicle charging points.

The station is currently staffed for all trains and has public toilets and a wheelchair accessible footbridge. The station provides a large free bike storage area.

The ticket office is located in a modern station building on the northbound platform, while a traditional North British Railway building survives on the southbound platform, where it serves as a waiting room.

Services

Journey times as low as 15 minutes are available to Edinburgh Haymarket as London North Eastern Railway and ScotRail express services between Edinburgh and Aberdeen stop here. Some services between Edinburgh and Inverness also stop at Inverkeithing.

Mondays to Saturdays daytimes, four Fife Circle Line trains per hour go southbound to Edinburgh. Northbound, services run every half-hour to Dunfermline City, and half-hourly to Kirkcaldy. One of the former & both of the latter continue to Glenrothes with Thornton. Evenings and Sundays, two trains per hour go southbound to Edinburgh and two per hour go along the Fife Circle one in each direction (one via Dunfermline and one via Kirkcaldy).[4]

From Monday to Saturday most daytime ScotRail services to Aberdeen and Inverness no longer stop here (though a few calls are made to both destinations in the early morning & evening). The primary longer distance service is provided by half-hourly semi-fast trains from Edinburgh to either Perth or Dundee (hourly to each), which serve most stations north of Kirkcaldy. There is a once daily train to Glasgow Queen Street via Winchburgh Junction and Polmont each morning, returning in the evening peak.[5] On Sundays, there is a limited service to Perth & Inverness and a mostly hourly service to Dundee and Aberdeen.

London North Eastern Railway services between Aberdeen, London King's Cross and Leeds call at Inverkeithing.[6]

As of May 2023, CrossCountry also operate one train a day to Aberdeen and one train per day to Penzance.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Haymarket   ScotRail
Edinburgh–Dundee line
  Kirkcaldy
North Queensferry   ScotRail
Fife Circle Line
  Dalgety Bay
  ScotRail
Fife Circle Line
  Rosyth
Edinburgh Waverley   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
(London Euston – Aberdeen)
  Kirkcaldy
Haymarket   London North Eastern Railway
Northern Lights
(London Kings Cross – Aberdeen)
  Kirkcaldy
Haymarket   CrossCountry
(Plymouth - Edinburgh Waverley) or 1 a day (Penzance - Aberdeen)
  Kirkcaldy

References

  1. ^ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Inverkeithing Railway Station". scottish-places.info. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. ^ Table 242 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  5. ^ Table 229 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  6. ^ Table 26 & 51 National Rail timetable, May 2016