Holytown railway station

Holytown railway station is a railway station serving both Holytown and New Stevenston in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the Shotts Line, 13 miles (21 km) south east of Glasgow Central towards Edinburgh Waverley and is also on the Argyle Line. It was opened in 1880 (as 'Carfin') at the same time as the Wishaw Deviation Line from Law Junction, though the line on which it actually stands (the Wishaw and Coltness Railway) is considerably older.

Holytown Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Chuilinn[1]
General information
Location	New Stevenston, North Lanarkshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.8126°N 3.9736°W / 55.8126; -3.9736
Grid reference	NS764594
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	HLY
Key dates
1 June 1880[2]	Opened as Carfin
1 January 1882	Renamed Carfin Junction
1 June 1882[3]	Renamed Holytown Junction
1 October 1901	Renamed Holytown
Passengers
2019/20	0.133 million
2020/21	23,934
2021/22	85,942
2022/23	0.122 million
2023/24	0.157 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Despite its name, the station is some 550 yards (500 m) from the edge of Holytown; instead it is in New Stevenston.

The station was opened to assist the coal mining industry; the mines are now long gone.

Around 2003, some services to Lanark on the Argyle Line began running via Holytown (by means of the Mossend South to East curve) then down to Wishaw, creating two routes (one via Holytown and the other via the already existing Shieldmuir). This created a twice-hourly service at Holytown to/from Glasgow and a regular link to/from Motherwell.

Services

2008 onward

Monday to Saturdays on the Shotts Line there is an hourly service westbound to Glasgow via Uddingston and eastbound to Edinburgh. Sunday services only run from Glasgow Central via Whifflet to Shotts for the month prior to Christmas.^[4]

However, from December 2012 a new two hourly service has operated between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh.^[5]

On the Argyle Line there is an hourly service northbound to Glasgow Central and beyond (to Milngavie) and southbound to Lanark via Motherwell with no Sunday service.

December 2014

Following a recast of the Argyle Line timetable in the wake of the Whifflet Line electrification, there is no longer a regular daytime service to Motherwell, Milngavie via Anderston or Lanark. Only the hourly (two-hourly Sunday) Shotts line stopping services now call here - one of these in each direction (06:00 Motherwell to Edinburgh Waverley ) now provides the statutory minimum service from Motherwell over the Mossend South Jcn to East Jcn curve. A single weekday peak service from Carstairs to Garscadden in the morning, returning from Anderston to Carstairs in the evening fulfils the same function for the line from Wishaw.^[6]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Carfin		ScotRail Glasgow Central - Edinburgh Waverley		Bellshill or Motherwell
	Historical railways
Carfin		Cleland and Midcalder Line		Bellshill
Wishaw Central		Caledonian Railway Main Line		Motherwell
		Caledonian Railway Main Line		Mossend Line open; station closed

References

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Butt 1995, p. 53.
3. Butt 1995, p. 122.
4. National Rail Timetable, December 2008-May 2009 Ed, Table 225
5. GB National Rail Timetable 225, Edinburgh - Shotts, Carstairs, Motherwell and Glasgow Central 20 May - 7 December 2013 Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback MachineNetwork Rail; Retrieved 2013-09-24
6. GB NRT December 2015 - May 2016, Tables 224 & 225 (Network Rail)

Sources

• 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.
• RAILSCOT on Caledonian Railway
• RAILSCOT on Cleland and Midcalder Line