Bridge of Orchy railway station
Bridge of Orchy railway station is a railway station in the village of Bridge of Orchy in the west of Scotland. The station is on the West Highland Line, between Rannoch and Upper Tyndrum, 48 miles 68 chains (78.6 km) from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh.[4] ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, with others provided by Caledonian Sleeper.
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| General information | |
| Location | Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute Scotland |
| Coordinates | 56.5162°N 4.7642°W |
| Grid reference | NN300394 |
| Managed by | ScotRail |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | BRO[2] |
| History | |
| Original company | West Highland Railway |
| Pre-grouping | North British Railway |
| Post-grouping | LNER |
| Key dates | |
| 7 August 1894 | Opened |
| Passengers | |
| 2017/18 |  6,032 |
| 2018/19 | 6,490 |
| 2019/20 |  5,906 |
| 2020/21 | 986 |
| 2021/22 | 4,126 |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Designated | 15 November 1979 |
| Reference no. | LB13072[3] |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
History
This station opened by the West Highland Railway on 7 August 1894.[5]
The station was laid out with a crossing loop around an island platform and sidings on the east side of the station.
The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939 and possibly one for some of 1934.[6]
On 1 February 1987, the crossing loop was altered to right-hand running. The original Down platform has thus become the Up platform, and vice versa. The change was made in order to simplify shunting at this station, by removing the need to hand-pump the train-operated loop points to access the sidings.
Signalling
The signal box, which had 16 levers, was situated at the south end of the island platform. From the time of its opening in 1894, the West Highland Railway was worked throughout by the electric token system.
In 1967, the method of working between Crianlarich and Rannoch was changed to the Scottish Region Tokenless block system. The Up loop at Bridge of Orchy was signalled for running in either direction and the signal box was able to 'switch out' when not required.
In August 1985, the method of working between Crianlarich and Rannoch reverted to the electric token block system. The semaphore signals were removed on 24 November 1985 in preparation for the introduction of Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB).
The RETB system was commissioned by British Rail between Upper Tyndrum and Fort William Junction on 29 May 1988. This resulted in the closure of Bridge of Orchy signal box (amongst others). The RETB is controlled from a Signalling Centre at Banavie railway station.
The Train Protection & Warning System was installed in 2003.
Facilities
The island platform is only equipped with shelters and bike racks, although there is a car park. The only access to the station is via a stepped subway, so there is no 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.
Passenger volume
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 4,916 | 4,941 | 5,112 | 5,108 | 5,966 | 5,690 | 5,416 | 6,192 | 5,890 | 5,726 | 5,932 | 6,024 | 5,880 | 5,680 | 6,032 | 6,490 | 5,906 | 986 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
Monday to Saturday, Bridge of Orchy has three ScotRail services to Mallaig and three services to Glasgow Queen Street. Caledonian Sleeper operate one service each day, each way to Fort William and London Euston (except Saturday nights). On Sundays, there are two services northbound to Mallaig and two southbound to Glasgow Queen Street, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston. This can also be used by regular travellers to and from stations towards Edinburgh, as it is booked to set down at some stations and carries seating coaches as far as Edinburgh.[9][10][11]
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rannoch | ScotRail West Highland Line |
Upper Tyndrum | ||
| Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper |
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| Historical railways | ||||
| Tyndrum | North British Railway West Highland Railway |
Gorton | ||
References
- Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "BRIDGE OF ORCHY STATION INCLUDING SIGNAL BOX, SUBWAY AND RAILINGS (LB13072)". Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. pp. 88, 90. ISBN 978 1909431 26 3.
- Butt (1995), page 43
- McRae (1997), page 11
- "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218
- eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218
- eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 220
Bibliography
- Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
- McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
External Links
