Neilston railway station explained

Neilston
Native Name:Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Baile Nèill
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Neilston, East Renfrewshire
Country:Scotland
Coordinates:55.7829°N -4.4269°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:ScotRail
Platforms:2
Code:NEI
Transit Authority:SPT
Original:Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Pregroup:Caledonian Railway
Postgroup:LMS
Years:1 May 1903
Events:Opened[1]
Years1:1 January 1917
Events1:Closed
Years2:2 March 1919
Events2:Re-opened
Years3:2 June 1924
Events3:Renamed Neilston High
Years4:6 May 1974
Events4:Renamed Neilston
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Neilston railway station is a railway station in the village of Neilston, East Renfrewshire, Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and lies on the Cathcart Circle Lines, NaNmiles southwest of Glasgow Central.

History

The station was originally opened as part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway on 1 May 1903. It closed between 1 January 1917 and 2 March 1919 due to wartime economy, and upon the grouping of the L&AR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, the station was renamed Neilston High on 2 June 1924. It was renamed back to Neilston on 6 May 1974 by British Rail.

The station is fully operational today as the terminal station on the Glasgow Central – Neilston line. The railway was electrified in May 1962 (using overhead wires supplying 25 kV A.C) and Class 303 "Blue Train" electric multiple units provided almost all trains services for many years thereafter, being joined by the similar Class 311 from 1967. Following withdrawal of the Class 303 and 311, Class 314 were the mainstay of the service until their withdrawal in 2019, with occasional services operated by Class 318, Class 334 and Class 320. As of 2022 train services are operated by Class 318, Class 320, Class 380 and Class 385

The line previously continued southwest to Uplawmoor, but this section closed to passengers in April 1962 and to all traffic in December 1964.[2] British Rail also put forward plans to close the station here in the early 1980s and cut the branch back to, but the proposals were never implemented.[3]

Layout and facilities

Although the station is a terminus, it has kept a conventional two platform layout with separate tracks for arrivals & departures.[4] The two lines merge into a single reversing siding immediately west of the station (on the course of the old L&AR line to Uplawmoor) and terminating trains use this to change platforms before returning east to Glasgow. It is a staffed station, with step-free access to each platform via ramps (although these are quite steep) and a roadbridge at the eastern end linking the two.[5] A P.A system and passenger information screens provide train running information.

Services

2016

There is a daily half-hourly service from Neilston to via Queens Park. The typical journey time is 27 minutes.

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Butt (1995), page 167
  2. Stansfield (1999), page 41
  3. http://netherlee.org.uk/454.htm "The Origins of the Neilston Line"
  4. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3708988 "Neilston railway station, Renfrewshire"
  5. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/NEI/details.html Neilston station facilities