Invershin railway station

Invershin

Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Sin[1]
National Rail
General information
LocationInvershin, Highland
Scotland
Coordinates57°55′30″N 4°23′58″W / 57.9249°N 4.3995°W / 57.9249; -4.3995
Grid referenceNH579953
Managed byScotRail
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeINH[2]
History
Original companySutherland Railway
Pre-groupingHighland Railway
Post-groupingLMSR
Key dates
13 April 1868Opened
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 216
2020/21Decrease 50
2021/22Increase 210
2022/23Increase 232
2023/24Increase 440
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Invershin railway station is a railway station in the Highland council area of Scotland. The station is on the Far North Line, 61 miles 34 chains (98.9 km) from Inverness, between Culrain and Lairg.[3] ScotRail, who manage the station, operate all services.

History

The station opened on 13 April 1868,[4] as part of the Sutherland Railway, later becoming part of the Highland Railway and later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

Location

Shin Viaduct

It is extremely close to the previous station on the line, at Culrain, situated at the opposite side of Shin Viaduct (or 'Oykel Viaduct'), a major structure on the Far North line which crosses the Kyle of Sutherland at its narrowest point.

Facilities

Invershin only has very basic facilities, being a waiting shelter, a help point and bike racks.[5] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

On 20 December 2022, Transport Scotland introduced a new "Press & Ride" system at Invershin,[6] following successful trials of the system at Scotscalder over the previous four months.[7][8] Previously, passengers wishing to board a train at Invershin had to flag the train by raising their arm (as is still done at other request stops around the country); this meant that the driver needed to reduce the train's speed before a request stop (to look out for any potential passengers on the platform and be able to stop if necessary), even if the platform was empty. The new system consists of an automatic kiosk (with a button for passengers to press) at the platform; this will alert the driver about any waiting passengers in advance and, if there is no requirement to stop, the train can maintain line speed through the request stops, thus improving reliability on the whole line.[9]

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Invershin[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 287 229 408 199 310 220 282 512 386 690 790 486 706 826 438 284 216 50 210 232

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

In the December 2021 timetable, four trains call at Invershin each way (four to Inverness, four to Wick via Thurso) on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays, there is just one train each way.[11]

This station is designated as a request stop. This means that passengers intending to alight must inform the guard in advance, and any passengers wishing to board must press a "request" button located at the kiosk on the platform.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Culrain   ScotRail
Far North Line 		  Lairg

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. ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  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. p. 102. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  4. ^ Quick 2022, p. p=256.
  5. ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  6. ^ "More request stop kiosks on Far North Line". Today's Railways UK. No. 252. Platform 5. February 2023. p. 14. ISBN 9771475971140.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  7. ^ "Far North request-stop kiosk on trial". Today's Railways UK. No. 248. Platform 5. October 2022. p. 16. ISBN 9771475971140.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  8. ^ "First of Scotland's request-stop kiosks goes live". The Railway Magazine. No. 1458. Mortons of Horncastle. September 2022. p. 8. ISBN 9770033892354.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  9. ^ Far North Line Review Group – Transport Scotland
  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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