Bellshill railway station

Bellshill railway station is a railway station in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and served by Argyle Line and Shotts Line services. The station is adjacent to Bellshill Main Street, on Hamilton Road, and was opened by the Caledonian Railway as part of the Cleland and Midcalder Line on 1 May 1879.^[1] West of the station, the Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Railway crossed with a second station in the town to the north west - this ceased to carry passengers back in 1951.

Bellshill
General information
Location	Bellshill, North Lanarkshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.8171°N 4.0243°W / 55.8171; -4.0243
Grid reference	NS732600
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BLH
History
Original company	CR (Cleland and Midcalder Line)
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
1 May 1879	Opened[1]
Passengers
2019/20	0.784 million
Interchange	45,364
2020/21	0.147 million
Interchange	4,080
2021/22	0.381 million
Interchange	19,796
2022/23	0.511 million
Interchange	31,838
2023/24	0.621 million
Interchange	70,586
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The line through the station was electrified as part of the 1974 West Coast Main Line project.^[2]

Bellshill station in October 1961

Although it is situated east of the Shotts Line's junction with the WCML south of Uddingston, electric trains can reach Motherwell using a chord line to the route from Coatbridge Central and Mossend which passes beneath the Shotts route east of the station (these lines being wired to allow electric access to the yard at Mossend and to allow goods trains to avoid the busy Motherwell area).

Services

The service Mondays-Saturdays is:

• 2tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts
• 2tph to Lanark via Motherwell
• 4tph to Glasgow Central High Level

There are additional peak trains to Anderston via Central L.L. and to Carstairs (both via Shieldmuir and via Holytown), and infrequent services on the North Berwick Line.^[3] Regular daytime services through to Partick and beyond via Central L.L. ended at the December 2014 timetable change.

On a Sunday, the pattern is as follows:

• 1tph to Lanark via Motherwell
• 1tph to Motherwell
• 1tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley
• 2tph to Glasgow Central

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Motherwell		ScotRail Argyle Line		Uddingston
Holytown or Shotts		ScotRail Shotts Line		Uddingston or Glasgow Central
	Historical railways
Holytown Line and station open		Caledonian Railway Cleland and Midcalder Line		Uddingston Line and station open

References

1. Butt (1995), p. 32
2. Nock (1974)
3. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 225 (Network Rail)

Bibliography

• 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.
• Nock, Oswald (1974). Electric Euston to Glasgow (1st ed.). London: Ian Allan Limited. ISBN 0-7110-0530-3. OCLC 2283378.
• RAILSCOT on Cleland and Midcalder Line
• Bellshill railway station on historic OS Map