| Oban | |
| Native Name: | Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: An t-Òban[1] |
| Symbol Location: | gb |
| Symbol: | rail |
| Borough: | Oban, Argyll and Bute |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Coordinates: | 56.4121°N -5.4749°W |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Manager: | ScotRail |
| Platforms: | 2 (numbered 3 & 4) |
| Code: | OBN[2] |
| Original: | Callander and Oban Railway |
| Pregroup: | Callander and Oban Railway operated by Caledonian Railway |
| Years: | 30 June 1880 |
| Events: | Opened |
| Footnotes: | Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Oban railway station is a railway station serving Oban in Scotland. It is the terminus of one branch of the highly scenic West Highland Line, sited 71miles from Callander, via Glen Ogle.[3] It was originally the terminus of the Callander and Oban Railway. All services are operated by ScotRail, who also manage the station.
Oban station provides interchange with the adjacent ferry terminal, offering connections to a number of destinations in the Inner and Outer Hebrides via ferry services operated by Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac). Oban is CalMac's busiest ferry terminal.
Oban station opened on 30 June 1880 as the terminus of the Callander and Oban Railway, which joined the present railway at Crianlarich, and which was absorbed into the LMS Railway in 1922.[4] Two additional platforms were constructed on the west side of the station in 1904, following the opening of the branch from to . The route from Dunblane and Callander to Crianlarich closed in 1965, as well as the Ballachulish line.[5] Formerly, a branch to Ballachulish railway station diverged just east of Connel Ferry railway station. A triangular junction was planned at Connel, but never completed.
The station is well-equipped with a ticket office, toilets, a help point, a car park, bike racks and a pay phone. All of the station has step-free access.[6]
| Entries and exits | 101,553 | 113,830 | 110,000 | 109,053 | 108,903 | 126,676 | 119,876 | 121,746 | 125,900 | 122,568 | 129,311 | 170,682 | 176,104 | 164,332 | 181,172 | 177,522 | 169,174 | 89,004 | 154,970 | 186,138 |
On Monday to Fridays, there are six trains per day to Glasgow Queen Street, plus an additional afternoon service that runs only as far as Dalmally, primarily for schools traffic. On Saturdays, the service is very similar to that on weekdays, with the exception of the Dalmally train, which does not run. On Sundays there are four trains per day to Glasgow Queen Street all year round.[8] [9]
Oban station is located next to Oban ferry terminal. Caledonian MacBrayne ferries sail daily from here to the islands of Lismore, Colonsay, Coll, Tiree, to Craignure on Mull, to Castlebay on Barra and to Lochboisdale (winter only) on South Uist. Ferries also operate to Mallaig. The times of connecting trains to/from Glasgow Queen Street are included on CalMac timetables.[10]