Neilston railway station

For the station on the former Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway, see Neilston Low railway station.

Neilston railway station is a railway station in the village of Neilston, East Renfrewshire, Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and lies on the Cathcart Circle Lines, 11+3⁄4 miles (18.9 km) southwest of Glasgow Central.

Neilston Scottish Gaelic: Baile Nèill[1]
General information
Location	Neilston, East Renfrewshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.7829°N 4.4269°W / 55.7829; -4.4269
Grid reference	NS479570
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	NEI
History
Original company	Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
1 May 1903	Opened[2]
1 January 1917	Closed
2 March 1919	Re-opened
2 June 1924	Renamed Neilston High
6 May 1974	Renamed Neilston
Passengers
2019/20	0.403 million
2020/21	0.184 million
2021/22	0.275 million
2022/23	0.306 million
2023/24	0.358 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Cathcart Circle Lines route map

The station was originally opened as part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway on 1 May 1903.^[2] It closed between 1 January 1917 and 2 March 1919 due to wartime economy,^[2] and upon the grouping of the L&AR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, the station was renamed Neilston High on 2 June 1924.^[2] It was renamed back to Neilston on 6 May 1974 by British Rail.^[2]

The station is fully operational today as the terminal station on the Glasgow Central – Neilston line. The railway was electrified in May 1962 (using overhead wires supplying 25 kV A.C) and Class 303 "Blue Train" electric multiple units provided almost all trains services for many years thereafter, being joined by the similar Class 311 from 1967. Following withdrawal of the Class 303 and 311, Class 314 were the mainstay of the service until their withdrawal in 2019, with occasional services operated by Class 318, Class 334 and Class 320. As of 2022 train services are operated by Class 318, Class 320, Class 380 and Class 385

The line previously continued southwest to Uplawmoor, but this section closed to passengers in April 1962 and to all traffic in December 1964.^[3] British Rail also put forward plans to close the station here in the early 1980s and cut the branch back to Whitecraigs, but the proposals were never implemented.^[4]

Layout and facilities

The reversing siding at Neilston

Although the station is a terminus, it has kept a conventional two platform layout with separate tracks for arrivals & departures.^[5] The two lines merge into a single reversing siding immediately west of the station (on the course of the old L&AR line to Uplawmoor) and terminating trains use this to change platforms before returning east to Glasgow. It is a staffed station, with step-free access to each platform via ramps (although these are quite steep) and a roadbridge at the eastern end linking the two.^[6] A P.A system and passenger information screens provide train running information.

Services

2016

There is a daily half-hourly service from Neilston to Glasgow Central via Queens Park. The typical journey time is 27 minutes.^[7]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		ScotRail Cathcart Circle Lines		Balgray Under construction
	Historical railways
Uplawmoor Line and station closed		Caledonian Railway Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway		Lyoncross Line open; station never constructed

References

Notes

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Butt (1995), page 167
3. Stansfield (1999), page 41
4. "The Origins of the Neilston Line" Archived 16 September 2016 at the Wayback MachineNetherlee.org; Retrieved 31 August 2016
5. "Neilston railway station, Renfrewshire" Thompson, Nigel; geograph.org; Retrieved 31 August 2016
6. Neilston station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016
7. Table 223 National Rail timetable, May 2016

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.
• 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.
• Stansfield, G. (1999). Ayrshire & Renfrewshire's Lost Railways. Ochiltree: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1-8403-3077-5.

External links

• Video footage of Neilston Railway Station