Largs railway station

Largs railway station is a railway station in the town of Largs, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is owned by Network Rail. It is on the Ayrshire Coast Line, 43 miles (69 km) south west of Glasgow Central.

Largs Scottish Gaelic: An Leargaidh[1]
The bridge and platforms at Largs. A Class 380 is about to depart for Glasgow Central
Location	Largs, North Ayrshire Scotland
Coordinates	55.7928°N 4.8673°W
Grid reference	NS202592
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	LAR
History
Original company	G&SWR Largs Branch
Post-grouping	LMS
Key dates
1 June 1885	Opened[2]
Passengers
2015/16	0.430 million
2016/17	0.442 million
2017/18	0.436 million
2018/19	0.446 million
2019/20	0.426 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Largs station in the 1960s

Three platforms and centre stabling lines in April 1984

The station was originally opened on 1 June 1885 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway,[2] as the terminus of the extension of the former Ardrossan Railway to Largs.

The station originally had four platforms with additional stabling lines, a glazed canopy and a footbridge spanning the platforms.[3]

By the time the electrification project commenced only three platforms and the centre stabling line were in operation. A fire in 1985 destroyed the station signal box and shortly afterwards work was undertaken to remodel & rationalise the track layout and modernise the signalling ahead of the planned electrification (as part of the wider Ayrshire Coast scheme). Once this was completed by British Rail in 1987, only two platforms remained in use with the line southwards having been reduced to single track. The standard 25 kV A.C overhead system was used, with the signalling system supervised from Paisley signalling centre.

1995 demolition in accident

Aftermath of the accident

On 11 July 1995 an early morning Class 318 train from Glasgow Central failed to stop. It crashed through the buffers and the back of the ticket office, severely damaging parts of the station building, and demolished two shops before coming to a stop next to the taxi rank on Main Street. An eye-witness described the noise with the station shaking as the train "was ploughing through it like a set of dominoes", then "the whole corner of the building disintegrating". Although the driver, the guard and three others suffered injuries, there was considerable relief that no-one was killed.[4][5]

Reconstruction: new station building

New station building

For several years there were discussions of redevelopment and replacement buildings, and in 2001 a small ticket office was constructed.[5] A £200,000 makeover (including a new station building) was completed in 2005, albeit much simpler than the original.

Services

There is an hourly service to and from Glasgow Central (including Sundays), with additional services during weekday peak periods. Trains usually use Platform 2, with the exception of the 0722 and 1953 services to Glasgow, which use Platform 1.[6]

References

Notes

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Butt (1995), page 139
3. Largs station in 1954Railscot, Retrieved 2 September 2016
4. Wolmar, Christian (12 July 1995). "Thirteen hurt as trains crash through buffers - News". The Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
5. "125 years history of Largs Railway Station : News". Largs & Millport Weekly News. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
6. Table 221 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. (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.