Montrose railway station

Montrose railway station serves the town of Montrose in Angus, Scotland. The station overlooks the Montrose Basin and is situated on the Dundee–Aberdeen line, 90 miles (144 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley.

Montrose

Montrose railway station
General information
LocationMontrose, Angus
Scotland
Coordinates56.7129°N 2.4722°W / 56.7129; -2.4722
Grid referenceNO711579
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeMTS
Key dates
1 May 1883Opened
Passengers
2016/17 0.354 million
2017/18 0.350 million
2018/19 0.338 million
2019/20 0.334 million
2020/21 35,086
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

A train calling at the southbound platform

The town of Montrose had initially been served by a short branch line from the Aberdeen Railway at Dubton Junction, which ran to a modest terminus close to the centre of the town and opened in 1848.[2]

The current station was opened on 1 May 1883[3] by the North British Railway on their North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway route linking Arbroath with the Scottish North Eastern Railway main line through Strathmore at Kinnaber Junction. This was essentially a continuation of the NBR main line from Edinburgh via the Tay Rail Bridge and allowed the company to accelerate its services between the Scottish capital and Aberdeen by an hour. Though the line received parliamentary approval in 1871, it wasn't until 1881 that the line was opened for goods traffic, progress having been delayed by the need to rebuild the iron South Esk viaduct south of the station. The original had been built to the design of Sir Thomas Bouch, which was considered suspect after the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 - upon testing under heavy loads, several of the piers failed and so it had to be replaced. Passenger traffic subsequently began on the line on 1 May 1883.[4]

To the north of the station a chord line was laid in by the NBR to give access to the Montrose and Bervie Railway at Broomfield Junction; this 13 mile branch had been opened in 1865 and initially worked by the Scottish North Eastern Railway (whose Montrose East station it originally shared) but taken over by the NBR in 1881 when the main NBA&MR was opened. After a period of joint operation by both companies, the NBR worked all services from 1899 until the 1923 Grouping, when the London and North Eastern Railway took over. Passenger services were subsequently withdrawn by British Railways in 1951, though freight traffic continued until 1966. From 30 April 1934, services from the Dubton branch also operated to and from here with the closure of the former Caledonian terminus to passenger traffic. The station was host to a LMS caravan in 1936 followed by three caravans from 1937 to 1939.[5] Passenger traffic on this route ended in August 1952, with complete closure following in 1963.[2]

The section of line across the viaduct and on to Usan is the only single track section on the entire line between Edinburgh & Aberdeen - though the rest of the route was doubled by the NBR in the years after opening, the cost of widening or rebuilding the viaduct to accommodate double track was deemed prohibitive and so it remained single. Until recently, the section was worked by signal boxes at each end (Usan and Montrose South) using tokenless block regulations, but a 2010 resignalling scheme saw both boxes closed and control transferred to the former Montrose North box - this now supervises the entire area including the single line over the viaduct. The work also made the southbound platform at the station bi-directional.[6]

Stationmasters

  • Hercules Wood 1883 - 1917
  • Alex Wotherspoon 1917[7] - 1931 (formerly station master at Anstruther)
  • Fraser Knox Brown 1932 - 1947[8]
  • James Shields 1947 - 1950[9] (formerly station master at Duddingston)
  • William Neilson 1950[10] - 1953
  • Alexander Baxter 1953[11] - 1954
  • Donald McGregor 1954[12] - 1957
  • Douglas James Moore 1958[13] - 1961
  • Alexander Stewart from 1961[14]
  • Tom Armstrong 1964 - 1966

Services

The station receives regular calls by ScotRail trains on both the Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley to Aberdeen routes throughout the week. Certain Aberdeen trains are extended to either Dyce (for Aberdeen Airport) or Inverurie.

There are also three through trains London North Eastern Railway to and from London King's Cross and one to/from Leeds (Mon-Sat only) via the East Coast Main Line that call, along with a single through train to/from Penzance via Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads and Exeter St Davids operated by CrossCountry. The overnight Caledonian Sleeper service to/from London Euston also stops here (except on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings).[15]

From 2018, a new "Aberdeen Crossrail" service will be introduced from the station, running northbound to Inverurie every hour and serving all intermediate stops either side of Aberdeen. This will also allow the current Aberdeen to Glasgow & Edinburgh services to be accelerated by removing some of their existing calls north of Dundee and forms part of an extensive timetable improvement package backed by Transport Scotland.[16]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Arbroath   CrossCountry
Cross Country Network
  Stonehaven
Arbroath   ScotRail
Dundee–Aberdeen line
  Laurencekirk
Arbroath   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
  Stonehaven
Arbroath   London North Eastern Railway
East Coast Main Line
  Stonehaven
  Historical railways  
Lunan Bay
Line open; Station closed
  North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway   Hillside
Line open; Station closed
Terminus   Montrose and Bervie Railway   Broomfield
Line closed; Station closed

References

Notes

  1. Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
  2. Railscot - Aberdeen Railway www.railbrit.co.uk; Retrieved 2014-02-03
  3. "Opening of the Montrose and Arbroath Railway". Dundee Courier. Scotland. 2 May 1883. Retrieved 13 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Railscot - North British, Arbroath & Montrose Railway Railscot; Retrieved 2014-02-03
  5. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 22. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
  6. Signal Boxes to closeMontrose Review news article 28-01-2010; Retrieved 2014-02-03
  7. "Anstruther Station Master for Montrose". Dundee Courier. Scotland. 27 June 1917. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Former Station Master at Montrose". Dundee Courier. Scotland. 12 July 1954. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Stationmaster at Montrose Leaves". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Scotland. 13 September 1950. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Mr. William Neilson". Dundee Courier. Scotland. 28 November 1950. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Montrose's New Stationmaster". Dundee Courier. Scotland. 23 May 1953. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "New Stationmaster for Montrose". Montrose Standard. Scotland. 29 July 1954. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Montrose's New Stationmaster". Montrose Standard. Scotland. 27 February 1958. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "New Montrose Stationmaster". Montrose Standard. Scotland. 30 March 1961. Retrieved 20 November 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. Table 229 National Rail timetable, May 2017
  16. "‘Rail revolution’ means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback MachineTransport Scotland press release 15 March 2016, Retrieved 18 August 2016

Sources

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
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