Kyle of Lochalsh railway station

Kyle of Lochalsh railway station is the terminus of the Kyle of Lochalsh Line in the village of Kyle of Lochalsh in the Highlands, northern Scotland.

Kyle of Lochalsh Scottish Gaelic: Caol Loch Aillse[1]
Kyle of Lochalsh station
Location	Kyle of Lochalsh, Highland Scotland
Coordinates	57.2800°N 5.7138°W
Grid reference	NG762271
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	KYL
History
Original company	Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
2 November 1897	Opened[2]
Passengers
2015/16	65,706
2016/17	62,704
2017/18	65,182
2018/19	60,606
2019/20	57,786
Listed Building – Category B
Designated	16 December 1986
Reference no.	LB6954[3]
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is 63 miles 64 chains (102.7 km) from Dingwall, and has two platforms which can each accommodate a nine-coach train.[4]

History

Kyle station in 1939

Kyle station in September 1973

The station was opened on 2 November 1897[5] by the Highland Railway, following the completion of the extension of the Dingwall and Skye Railway from Stromeferry. The extension took more than four years to complete due to the unforgiving nature of the terrain through which it was driven - 29 bridges had to be constructed and more than 30 cuttings excavated through solid rock, which led to it costing £20,000 per mile[6] (making it the most expensive rail route to be built in the UK at the time). As built, the station consisted of a broad island platform on a pier next to the water's edge and a chalet-style station building close to the western end. Access to the station was (and still is) via a sloping access road. Several sidings were provided, along with a signal box and small locomotive shed.[7] The station was host to two LMS caravans from 1935 to 1937 followed by one caravan in 1938 to 1939.[8]

Originally the station provided a connection to the ferry services for the Outer Hebrides. However, as the ferry terminal at the Kyle of Lochalsh was 71 miles (114 km) from Stornoway, in 1970 Ross and Cromarty council voted to create a new £460,000 (equivalent to £7,167,700 in 2019)[9] ferry terminal at Ullapool which was only 43 miles (69 km) from Stornoway.[10]

The signal box closed in 1984, when Radio Electronic Token Block working was introduced on the line by British Rail - although no longer operational it is still intact and has been adapted for use as a holiday cottage.[11] Both platforms however remain, though only the western face (platform 1) is normally used by passenger trains. Three sidings are also still intact, including a run-round loop for loco-hauled trains alongside platform 1 and a loading bank siding adjacent to this (which has seen use by timber trains in recent years). Access to each of the sidings and platform 2 is by means of ground frames.[12]

The station is located next to the piers that used to offer sailings to Skye, the ferries being superseded on 16 October 1995 by the Skye Bridge that lies close to the station.

Services

There are four daily departures from the station to Dingwall and Inverness during the week and either one (winter) or two (summer) services on Sundays.[13]

References

Notes

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Butt (1995), p. 137
3. "KYLE OF LOCHALSH RAILWAY STATION AND PIER". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
4. Brailsford 2017, map 22D.
5. "Railways in the Western Highlands. Opening of New Kyle Extension". Glasgow Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 3 November 1897. Retrieved 15 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. The Kyle Line - History www.kylerailway.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-010-08
7. Railscot - Kyle of Lochalsh www.railbrit.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-10-08
8. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 22. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
9. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
10. "Ross and Cromarty council vote. Ullapool is Ferry Terminal". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Scotland. 22 October 1970. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. The Kyle Line - Signal Box Holiday Apaprtment www.kylerailway.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-10-08
12. Scot Rail - RETB Inverness www.scot-rail.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-10-08
13. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 239 (Network Rail)

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• 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. (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.
• 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.
• RailScot: Kyle of Lochalsh Extension (Highland Railway)
• RailScot: Dingwall and Skye Railway

External links

• Friends Of the Kyle Line
• Video footage of the station and branch in 1970
• Kyle of Lochalsh Station in 2018