Lanark railway station

Lanark railway station, managed by ScotRail, is the southern terminus of the Argyle Line on Bannatyne Street, Lanark, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is staffed part-time.^[2]

Lanark Scottish Gaelic: Lannraig[1]
Platform 2 at Lanark railway station, looking towards the ticket office
General information
Location	Lanark, South Lanarkshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.6735°N 3.7723°W / 55.6735; -3.7723
Grid reference	NS886436
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	LNK
Fare zone	L3
History
Opened	5 June 1855; 169 years ago (1855-06-05)
Original company	Lanark Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Passengers
2019/20	0.280 million
2020/21	30,996
2021/22	0.144 million
2022/23	0.203 million
2023/24	0.247 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Lanark station opened in 1855, as the terminus of a short branch line off the Caledonian Railway's West Coast Main Line. The branch had a triangular junction with the main line to allow trains from Lanark to head west towards Carluke or east to Carstairs. The eastern curve closed in the 1960s.

There was another triangular junction closer to Lanark station itself, and this is just north of the golf course and the embankments are still clearly visible. (summer 2017)

These were the two curves leading from the Lanark branch towards Muirkirk and Ayrshire and Lanark racecourse halt of course. ^[3]

In 1864, a line south from Lanark to Douglas was opened, and in 1874 it was extended to Muirkirk in Ayrshire, where it formed an end-on junction with the Glasgow and South Western Railway, though that line closed in 1964.

In 1974, the Lanark branch was included in the West Coast Main Line "Electric Scots" electrification project by British Rail.

Services

There is a peak approximately half-hourly, and an off-peak hourly, ScotRail to Glasgow Central High Level via Shieldmuir, Motherwell and Bellshill,^[4] taking a little less than an hour.

Services on this route formerly ran via Holytown, and all trains continued via the Argyle Line to the north west suburbs of the city,^[5] but since the electrification of the Whifflet Line these now run to and from High Level instead, and run fast beyond Cambuslang.

There are no southbound or eastbound services, as the branch only has a northbound chord connecting it to the West Coast Main Line (WCML) at Lanark Junction.

There have been calls for the southbound chord to be reconnected to allow direct services from Lanark to Edinburgh,^[6] but the route was subsequently re-used for housing.^{[citation needed]}

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		ScotRail Argyle Line		Carluke
	Historical railways
Carstairs		Caledonian Railway Main Line		Cleghorn
Terminus		Caledonian Railway Branch to Douglas & G&SWR		Sandilands

References

1. 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.
2. "National Rail Enquiries - Station Facilities for Lanark". National Rail. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
3. viewed personally at that time J Brownlee
4. ScotRail Timetables, with link to Lanarkshire Timetable Dec 2023
5. GB NRT May 2014, Table 226
6. Call for direct Lanark to Edinburgh rail link return Harris, Ron; Carluke Gazette article 7 April 2014

External links

• Train times and station information for Lanark railway station from National Rail
• Video and annotation of Lanark Railway Station

Media related to Lanark railway station at Wikimedia Commons