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Falkirk Grahamston railway station

Coordinates: 56°00′09″N 3°47′08″W / 56.0024°N 3.7856°W / 56.0024; -3.7856
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Falkirk Grahamston

Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Ghreumaich[1]
National Rail
Falkirk Grahamston station in 2018, following electrification
General information
LocationFalkirk, Falkirk
Scotland
Coordinates56°00′09″N 3°47′08″W / 56.0024°N 3.7856°W / 56.0024; -3.7856
Grid referenceNS887802
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeFKG
History
Original companyStirlingshire Midland Junction Railway
Pre-groupingNorth British Railway
Post-groupingLNER
Key dates
1 October 1850Opened as Grahamston (Falkirk)[2]
1 February 1903Renamed as Falkirk Grahamston[2][3]
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.720 million
 Interchange Increase 0.225 million
2019/20Decrease 0.709 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.139 million
2020/21Decrease 92,364
 Interchange Decrease 21,817
2021/22Increase 0.342 million
 Interchange Increase 0.126 million
2022/23Increase 0.489 million
 Interchange Decrease 59,878
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
The view from the footbridge at Falkirk Grahamston, looking towards the east

Falkirk Grahamston railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Falkirk in Scotland. It is located on the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line and also the Cumbernauld Line. Train services are provided by ScotRail. The "Highland Chieftain", the daily London North Eastern Railway service from London King's Cross to Inverness and vice versa also calls here.

Falkirk is also served by the railway station at Falkirk High.

East Coast InterCity 125 departing Falkirk Grahamston with a southbound Highland Chieftain service to London King's Cross.

History

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The line between Polmont and Larbert was built by the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway, which was absorbed by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway prior to opening.[4] The line opened on 1 October 1850, as did the station known as Grahamston (Falkirk).[2][4] The subsequent addition of a chord line at Carmuirs to create a triangular junction there also gave access to the Scottish Central Railway and hence the E&G main line at Greenhill, creating a parallel relief route to the busy E&G line that was often used by local stopping trains between the two cities.

It also became the junction for the Grangemouth Railway, when the branch to the port of the same name on the Firth of Forth was opened in 1860/61 – this line was notable in that it was promoted and built by the Forth and Clyde Canal Company rather than any of the local railways, in order to maintain the F&CC's monopoly of the harbour there. The branch was initially worked by the E&G, but when the canal company was subsequently bought out by the Caledonian Railway, it passed into their hands; thereafter the E&G's successor the North British Railway had running powers over it. Passenger services there were withdrawn on 29 January 1968 as a result of the Beeching Axe, but the branch is still open for freight to the port and associated oil refinery and petrochemical plant.[5]

The station was renamed Falkirk Grahamston on 1 February 1903.[3] The original station buildings were replaced by the present ones in 1985/6.,[6] in December 2021, it was announced that this station will become a transport hub, under the name Falkirk Central, as it is located in central Falkirk, though not much information has been said since then.

Services

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Monday to Saturday there are 4 trains per hour to Edinburgh Waverley eastbound and 2-3 trains per hour westbound to Dunblane via Stirling. Train times to Edinburgh Waverley vary from 25 minutes to 34 minutes; faster trains stop at Edinburgh Park and Haymarket, slower trains additionally stop at Polmont and Linlithgow. There are also 2 trains per hour to and from Glasgow Queen Street via Cumbernauld, with journey times from 39 minutes to 43 minutes. There is also a single weekday morning peak direct service to Glasgow which originates at Kirkcaldy; this returns to Markinch in the evening, with an evening journey time of 26 minutes.[7] London Northern Eastern Railway operate one train per day to Stirling, one train per day to Inverness and two trains per day to London King's Cross. Glasgow services were diverted via Cumbernauld (rather than their former routing via Croy) in September 1999[8] in order to free up paths on the busy E&G main line.

On Sundays there is an hourly service to Edinburgh and Dunblane but no service to Glasgow. Passengers wishing to travel there have to either change at Polmont or use Falkirk High.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Haymarket   London North Eastern Railway
East Coast Main Line
  Stirling
Polmont or Haymarket   ScotRail
Edinburgh–Dunblane Line
  Camelon
Stirling   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper
(southbound only)
  Edinburgh
Camelon   ScotRail
Cumbernauld Line
  Terminus
  Historical railways  
Camelon   Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway
North British Railway
  Polmont
Terminus   Grangemouth Railway
Caledonian Railway
  Grangemouth

Recent Improvements

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The line through the station and onwards to Larbert/Cumbernauld and to Polmont was electrified in 2018 as part of the second phase of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme funded by Transport Scotland. This has resulted in a timetable recast, with a new Glasgow to Edinburgh via Cumbernauld & Falkirk Grahamston stopping service introduced and services to Edinburgh, Stirling & Dunblane accelerated.[9]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. ^ a b c Butt 1995, p. 107.
  3. ^ a b Butt 1995, p. 94.
  4. ^ a b Awdry 1990, p. 164.
  5. ^ "Grangemouth Railway". Railscot. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  6. ^ Crawford, Ewen. "Falkirk Grahamston". Railscot. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  7. ^ GB National Rail Timetable 2016, Table 230 (Network Rail)
  8. ^ UK NRT Autumn 1999 Edition, Table 230
  9. ^ Dalton, A. (15 March 2016). "ScotRail announces major increase in daily trains". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 18 August 2016.

Sources

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