Blair Atholl railway station
Blair Atholl railway station is a railway station serving the town of Blair Atholl, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line. The station was opened by the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway on 9 September 1863 and is located at the northern end of the single track portion of the route from Stanley Junction. Beyond here the line is double track as far as Dalwhinnie.[2] The station is 35 miles 9 chains (56.5 km) from Perth, and has a passing loop 35 chains (700 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the up (southbound) line can accommodate trains having seven coaches, whereas platform 2 on the down (northbound) line can hold eleven. The passing loop continues towards Inverness as double-track line.[3]
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|---|---|
 General view, looking south | |
| Location | Blair Atholl, Perth and Kinross Scotland |
| Coordinates | 56.7653°N 3.8496°W |
| Grid reference | NN870652 |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | BLA |
| Key dates | |
| 1863 | Opened |
| Passengers | |
| 2015/16 |  16,652 |
| 2016/17 | 17,598 |
| 2017/18 | 19,802 |
| 2018/19 | 21,008 |
| 2019/20 |  18,388 |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
One of the first visitors to the station was Queen Victoria who arrived in a Royal Train on 15 September 1863 on a visit to Blair Castle to see George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl who was very ill.[4]
The disused goods yard and associated pointwork still exist, though overgrown. The goods yard is located next to the northbound platform.
Services
2020: On Monday to Saturdays, There is 8 northbound to Inverness and 6 southbound to Perth with 3 each extending to Glasgow and Edinburgh (including one that originates here) call on weekdays & Saturdays, along with the Caledonian Sleeper to and from London Euston (pickup only southbound Sunday to Friday, set down only northbound Mondays to Saturdays). A reduced service operates on Sundays with 3 trains per day to Inverness(1 extends to Elgin) and 4 trains to Perth with 2 trains each to Glasgow and Edinburgh including the Highland Chieftain to London Kings Cross.[5]
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitlochry | London North Eastern Railway Sundays, Southbound Only Highland Main Line |
Newtonmore | ||
| Pitlochry | Abellio ScotRail Highland Main Line |
Dalwhinnie or Newtonmore or Kingussie | ||
| Pitlochry | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper |
Dalwhinnie | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Killiecrankie Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness and Perth Junction Railway |
Black Island Platform Line open; station closed | ||
References
- 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.
- Railscot - Inverness and Perth Junction Railway Crawford, Ewan; Railbrit.co.uk; Retrieved 11 August 2016
- Brailsford 2017, map 19B.
- "The Queen at Blair Athole". Daily Review (Edinburgh). Scotland. 17 September 1863. Retrieved 14 August 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- Table 229 National Rail timetable, May 2016
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blair Atholl railway station. |