Balloch railway station explained

Balloch
Native Name:Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Am Bealach
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Balloch, West Dunbartonshire
Country:Scotland
Coordinates:56.0021°N -4.5831°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:ScotRail
Platforms:1
Code:BHC[1]
Transit Authority:SPT
Years:24 April 1988
Events:Opened by British Rail
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail & Road

Balloch railway station is a railway station serving the town of Balloch in Scotland. The station is a western terminus of the North Clyde Line, sited 20miles northwest of, measured via Singer and Maryhill.[2]

History

Although the line through the station was opened in July 1850, the current Balloch station was opened by British Rail and SPTE on 24 April 1988, replacing the former station which was situated immediately north of a level crossing on Balloch Road.[3] Closure of this level crossing was made possible by the closure of the previous terminus station, Balloch Pier, in 1986. The station is located NaNmiles south of where Balloch Pier station stood.[4] [5] This relocation allowed the level crossing to be closed.[6]

In 2023, it was announced that Balloch would receive a brand new park & ride facility, at a cost of £50,000.[7]

Location

It lies within the boundary, by just over 150m (490feet),[8] of the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park and provides one of few examples of an overhead electrified railway operating within a UK national park.

Facilities

The station has a ticket office, an accessible toilet, a shelter, seats, a help point and bike racks. The station has a stepped entrance from Tullichewan Road, and three step-free entrances from Balloch Road, Lomond Road and Balloch Road. All of the station is step-free.[9]

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Balloch[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 exits463,350486,973552,343554,798571,658600,764539,450546,924552,912559,570516,450553,606546,584543,006529,196554,282487,73467,320278,900351,268
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

There is a half-hourly daily service to on weekdays and Saturdays, and - on Sundays - to (via) or (via Hamilton Central) alternately (i.e., hourly trains from Balloch to Motherwell/Larkhall).[11]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Railway Codes . railwaycodes.org.uk . 27 September 2022.
  2. Book: TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain . Platform 5 Publishing Ltd . 2017 . 978 1909431 26 3 . Bridge . Mike . 3rd . Sheffield . .page..
  3. Butt, R.V.J., (1995)
  4. Strathclyde: the Review after the strike Modern Railways issue 445 December 1985 pages 650-651
  5. Balloch opens for business Rail issue 82 July 1988 page 15
  6. News & Notes: Balloch rebuilt The Railway Magazine issue 1049 September 1988 page 556
  7. Web site: Clarke . Fraser . 2023-04-13 . Balloch Station set for park and ride, as part of local transport funding boost . 2023-04-27 . Daily Record . en.
  8. OS Explorer Map 347 'Loch Lomond South'
  9. Web site: National Rail Enquiries - . 2022-09-30 . www.nationalrail.co.uk.
  10. Web site: Estimates of station usage ORR Data Portal . 24 December 2023 . dataportal.orr.gov.uk.
  11. eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 206