| Helensburgh Upper | |
| Native Name: | Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Baile Eilidh Àrd |
| Symbol Location: | gb |
| Symbol: | rail |
| Borough: | Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Coordinates: | 56.0124°N -4.7304°W |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Manager: | ScotRail |
| Platforms: | 1 |
| Code: | HLU[1] |
| Transit Authority: | SPT |
| Original: | West Highland Railway |
| Pregroup: | North British Railway |
| Postgroup: | LNER |
| Years: | 7 August 1894 |
| Events: | Opened[2] |
| Footnotes: | Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Helensburgh Upper railway station (Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Baile Eilidh Àrd) serves the town of Helensburgh, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde to the west of Glasgow. It is located in a residential area uphill from the town centre and is by far the smaller of the town's two stations. It is on the West Highland Line, 2miles from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh, the first station on the line before Garelochhead.[3] ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, with others provided by Caledonian Sleeper.
The station opened in 1894.
Originally built with an island platform in a cutting, the Up platform was taken out of use in 1968 although the station building remained in use for another few years. Until the 1960s, the station was served by a local shuttle service between Craigendoran and in addition to main line trains to Fort William and Mallaig. Latterly operated by a Wickham diesel railbus, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in 1964.[4]
The station is within a short walk of the Hill House, built by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and now preserved by the National Trust for Scotland. By using Helensburgh Upper station to visit the Hill House, visitors can avoid the walk uphill from Helensburgh Central railway station. However, Helensburgh Upper has an infrequent train service compared with that available to and from Helensburgh Central.[5] [6]
The single platform is equipped with a shelter, a bench, a help point and bike racks. The station has step-free access.[7] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.
| Entries and exits | 148 | 213 | 173 | 600 | 17,025 | 22,444 | 23,294 | 23,466 | 14,204 | 14,072 | 11,964 | 15,731 | 15,127 | 14,276 | 14,432 | 14,046 | 13,372 | 1,520 | 6,916 | 9,320 | |
| Interchanges | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,947 | 285 | 1,073 | 737 |
Monday to Saturday, there are six services to Oban and three to Mallaig (the latter combined with Oban portions, dividing at), and one service to Fort William (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper, weekday mornings only) northbound. Southbound, there are six services to Glasgow Queen Street High Level and one service to London Euston via Queen Street Low Level & Edinburgh Waverley (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper - does not run on Saturday).
On Sundays, there are two trains northbound to Mallaig, the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William and one extra to Oban only, plus an extra summer service to Oban; Southbound there are three trains southbound to Glasgow Queen Street. In summer months, the extra summer Sunday service returns to Edinburgh, avoiding Glasgow.[9] [10]