Kilmarnock railway station

The station was opened on 20 July 1846 by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. This was the third Kilmarnock railway station to be built: the first and second stations were solely termini for the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway.

[edit] Current operations and Station Description

The station is built well above street level and is accessed via either a subway and stairs or a more circuitous but step-free route along a narrow access road.

The station has a total of 4 platforms; two north-facing bays for both terminating Glasgow services and trains on the Glasgow to Stranraer via Kilmarnock route, on which trains reverse out of the station towards the junction with the Troon line. Two through platforms serve Glasgow to Carlisle trains, as well as Stranraer to Newcastle services. The bay platforms (1 and 2) as well as platform 3 are covered by a glazed roof and directly accessible from the ticket office. Platform 4 is used infrequently, accessed via a subway and stairs, and afforded only a bus stop style shelter.

The train service to Glasgow is limited by the fact that the line is single track northwards as far as Barrhead with only a static passing loop at Lugton. This limits the route's potential as a commuter service, and a dynamic passing loop is being considered to help rectify this.^[2]

[edit] Signalling

The present Kilmarnock signal box is located north of the station, in the vee of the junction. Opened on 12 April 1976, it is a plain brick building containing an NX (entrance-exit) panel on the upper storey. It replaced four mechanical signal boxes in a scheme that saw the track layout greatly simplified. Originally, the box worked Track Circuit Block to Hurlford signal box and Scottish Region Tokenless Block over the single lines to Barassie Junction and Lugton signal boxes. Kilmarnock signal box was severely damaged in a suspected arson attack on 25 December 2006.

[edit] References

^ Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford
^ RAILSCOT on Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway (retrieved 19 December 2006)

[edit] External links

Train times and station information for Kilmarnock railway station from National Rail
Street map and aerial photo of Kilmarnock railway station from Multimap.com

Preceding station		Following station
Troon	First ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line	Kilmaurs
Auchinleck	First ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line	Kilmaurs
Historical Railways
Terminus	Caledonian and Glasgow & South Western Railways Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway	Kilmaurs
Hurlford Line open; station closed	Glasgow and South Western Railway Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway	Crosshouse Line and station closed
Gatehead Line open; station closed	Glasgow and South Western Railway Kilmarnock and Troon Railway	Terminus