Barry Links railway station

Barry Links railway station lies south of the village of Barry, west of Carnoustie in Angus, Scotland. It is sited 8 miles 67 chains (14.2 km) from the former Dundee East station, and is on the Dundee to Aberdeen line, between Monifieth and Golf Street.^[4] The station is managed by ScotRail, who provide all the services at the station.

Barry Links Scottish Gaelic: Machair Bharraidh[1]
General information
Location	Barry, Angus Scotland
Coordinates	56.4932°N 2.7456°W / 56.4932; -2.7456
Grid reference	NO542336
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BYL[2]
History
Original company	Dundee and Arbroath Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
31 July 1851	Opened as Barry[3]
1 April 1919	Renamed as Barry Links[3]
Passengers
2018/19	122
2019/20	638
2020/21	184
2021/22	244
2022/23	470
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

In 2016/17, Barry Links was the least used railway station in the UK with just 24 entries and exits.^[5]

History

The station in 1974

The station was opened on 31 July 1851 by Dundee and Arbroath Railway, and was named Barry,^[3] even though the line through the station had opened thirteen years earlier.^[6] The station was renamed to its current name on 1 April 1919,^[3] presumably to avoid confusion with Barry station, in South Wales.

Facilities

Both platforms have shelters and benches, whilst platform 2 also has cycle racks. Only platform 2 has step-free access.^[7] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the conductor on the train.

Passenger volume

In the Strategic Rail Authority's 2002/03 financial year, only three fare-paying people (excluding season ticket holders) boarded trains at Barry Links station, and five disembarked, making it the least-used station in the United Kingdom, tied with Gainsborough Central. In the 2011/12 statistics, Barry Links had the seventh lowest passenger numbers. The low numbers reflect the fact that the service was very sparse at the time. In the 2016/17 statistics, Barry Links again became the least used station in Britain, receiving only 24 entries and exits.^[5][8]

In March 2019, ScotRail apologised for previous poor services across the network and offered season ticket holders, on affected routes, unlimited travel anywhere on the ScotRail network for selected weekends in March–May 2019.^[9] This then meant passengers were to buy the cheapest season ticket available between Golf Street and Barry Links, in order to take advantage of this promotion. As a result, the year 2019/20 saw a massive increase in passenger entries/exits to the station.

Passenger Volume at Barry Links^[5]

	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	2021–22	2022–23
Entries and exits	8	26	28	44	98	94	90	74	86	52	40	60	68	24	52	122	638	184	244	470

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

As of June 2024, there is a total of three trains per day: southbound, there is an 06:18 to Dundee and an 07:54 to Glasgow Queen Street, whilst northbound there is solely an 18:11 to Arbroath. There is no Sunday service.^[10]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Monifieth		ScotRail Dundee–Aberdeen line Mondays-Saturdays only		Golf Street
	Historical railways
Buddon Line open; station closed		Caledonian Railway and North British Railway Dundee and Arbroath Railway		Carnoustie Line and station open

References

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
3. Butt, page 28
4. 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. p. 95. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
5. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
6. Quick 2022, p. 69.
7. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
8. "Scottish railway station is least used in Britain". BBC News. December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
9. "ScotRail says sorry and offers extra compensation | ScotRail".
10. "eNRT May 2024 Edition, Table 214 Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth to Dundee, Arbroath, Aberdeen, Inverurie, Elgin and Inverness.pdf" (PDF). Network Rail.

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.
• 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.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Quick, Michael (2022). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.

External links

• Train times and station information for Barry Links railway station from National Rail