Kilwinning railway station

For the station on the former Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway, see Kilwinning East railway station.

Kilwinning railway station is a railway station serving the town of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line 26 miles (42 km) south of Glasgow Central, as well as the Glasgow South Western Line 69 miles (111 km) north of Stranraer. British Transport Police maintain an office here.

Kilwinning Scottish Gaelic: Cill D'Fhinnein[1]
Overview of Kilwinning railway station in 2019, Platforms 1 and 2 are to the left where trains to Glasgow, Ardrossan and Largs depart from while Platforms 3 and 4 are to the right which are used by trains to Glasgow and Ayr
General information
Location	Kilwinning, North Ayrshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.6561°N 4.7096°W / 55.6561; -4.7096
Grid reference	NS295436
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	KWN
History
Original company	Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway
Pre-grouping	Glasgow and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
23 March 1840[2]	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	0.938 million
2020/21	0.111 million
Interchange	11,247
2021/22	0.456 million
Interchange	62,043
2022/23	0.591 million
Interchange	60,903
2023/24	0.710 million
Interchange	80,687
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station has the most frequent service in Ayrshire, being served by all trains on both the Ayr main line and the branches to Ardrossan Harbour and Largs, with the sole exception of 1K49 17:47 Glasgow Central to Ayr which runs non-stop from Paisley to Irvine.^[3]

History

The station was opened on 23 March 1840 by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway^[2] and was built as an interchange, seeing traffic coming from Glasgow, Ayr and Ardrossan (and later Largs).

Station facilities

The station is located on Byers Road about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) from the town centre. There is a staffed ticket office (open Monday - Saturday 06:05 - 23:30 Sunday 08:50- 23:30), a toilet, a kiosk, a waiting room and a ticket vending machine. Train running information is offered via digital CIS displays, automated announcements, timetable posters and customer help points on each platform. In 2012, a new 130-space car park opened. There is lifts to all platforms located on Platform 1, Platform 2/3 by the main entrance and Platform 4. For security reasons, The lifts are only in operation when the ticket office are open and are locked after 7pm and when no staff are on duty^[4]

Station usage

The station is popular with commuters travelling to Glasgow from Ayrshire and beyond. It is the last stop before the Ayrshire Coast line splits in two, so trains stop at this station more than any other in Ayrshire.

British Transport Police

The station houses a Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) from the British Transport Police. Officers from Kilwinning cover all stations south of Kilwinning and north of Kilwinning until Lochwinnoch; Police Scotland officers will cover if British Transport Police officers are not available.

Bus services

Most buses do not come into the station forecourt, but there is a bus stop 100 yards (90 m) north of the station.

Services

A Glasgow to Ayr service

2023

• 4 trains per hour to Glasgow Central (2 semi-fast and 2 all stops).
• 2 trains per hour to Ayr.
• 1 train per hour to Largs.
• 1 train per hour to Ardrossan Harbour.

The Sunday service is:

• 3 trains per hour to Glasgow Central
• 2 trains per hour to Ayr
• 1 train per hour to Largs
• 4 trains per day to Ardrossan Harbour

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Stevenston		ScotRail Ayrshire Coast Line		Dalry or Glasgow Central or Johnstone
Irvine		ScotRail Ayrshire Coast Line
	Historical railways
Ardrossan Montgomerie Pier 1947 - 1960 Line and station closed		British Railways Montgomerie Pier Branch		Connection with Ardrossan Railway at Stevenston No. 1 Jct.
Stevenston Line and station open		Glasgow and South Western Railway Ardrossan Railway		Dalry Junction Line open; station closed
Bogside Line open; station closed		Glasgow and South Western Railway Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway

Rail and sea connections

Northern Ireland

Trains connect Ayr along the Glasgow South Western Line to Stranraer where a bus link runs: route 350 operated by Macleans Coaches (except Sundays) to Cairnryan.^[5] for onward ferries to the Port of Belfast by Stena Line and Larne Harbour by P&O Ferries.

Isle of Arran

Trains also connect along the Ayrshire Coast Line to Ardrossan Harbour for the Caledonian MacBrayne service to Brodick.