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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Kildonan Railway Station
Kildonan railway station (/kɪlˈdɒnən/ kil-DON-ən) is a railway station near Kildonan Lodge in the Highland council area in the north of Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line, between Helmsdale and Kinbrace, 111 miles 5 chains (178.7 km) from Inverness, and has a single platform which is long enough for a three-coach train. All services are operated by ScotRail, who manage the station.

History

Kildonan station as seen in 2008. The second platform is clearly visible on the left.

The station opened on 28 July 1874. In 1952 the station was awarded a special class award in the British Railway (Scottish Region) Best Kept Stations Competition.

Accidents and incidents

On 7 February 1884 there was an accident at the station. A special fish train from Wick approached the station when it derailed and ploughed up several hundred yards of track. The fireman, Alexander Campbell of Wick, died and the engine driver, David Mathieson of Wick was badly injured.

Proposed closure

On 10 June 2018, it was announced that Hitrans had proposed the station for closure, shaving four minutes off journey times on the Inverness to Thurso/Wick route and put application in to Transport Scotland to consider the proposals. However following objections by three local councillors Hitrans withdrew the application.

Facilities

The station has very basic facilities, including a waiting shelter, a bench, a help point and bike racks. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

On 20 December 2022, Transport Scotland introduced a new "Press & Ride" system at Kildonan, following successful trials of the system at Scotscalder over the previous four months. Previously, passengers wishing to board a train at Kildonan had to flag the train by raising their arm (as is still done at other request stops around the country); this meant that the driver needed to reduce the train's speed before a request stop (to look out for any potential passengers on the platform and be able to stop if necessary), even if the platform was empty. The new system consists of an automatic kiosk (with a button for passengers to press) at the platform; this will alert the driver about any waiting passengers in advance and, if there is no requirement to stop, the train can maintain line speed through the request stops, thus improving reliability on the whole line.

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Kildonan
2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Entries and exits 89 145 165 231 244 174 204 142 240 62 144 96 170 76 206 168 214 16 140 148

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

For the year 2023/24, Kildonan recorded the fewest entries and exits of all railway stations in Scotland (and 10th fewest in the UK overall).

Services

It is currently served by four trains each day (Mon-Sat) to Inverness and three trains in the opposite direction to Wick (via Thurso), with one train in each direction on a Sunday.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Helmsdale   ScotRail
Far North Line 		  Kinbrace or
Forsinard
  Historical railways  
Salzcraggie Platform
Line open, station closed 		  Highland Railway
Sutherland and Caithness Railway 		  Borrobol Platform
Line open, station closed

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. ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  3. ^ Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 103. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
  4. ^ "The Sunderland and Caithness Railway". The Scotsman. British Newspaper Archive. 27 July 1874. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Awards to North Stations". Aberdeen Evening Express. British Newspaper Archive. 29 November 1952. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "The Accident on the Highland Railway". Edinburgh Evening News. British Newspaper Archive. 8 February 1884. Retrieved 10 August 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Axe looms for Highland station with just 76 passengers year". The Scotsman. 10 June 2018.
  8. ^ MacLennan, Scott (30 June 2018). "Kildonan Railway Station to be saved after HITRANS backs down".
  9. ^ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  10. ^ "More request stop kiosks on Far North Line". Today's Railways UK. No. 252. Platform 5. February 2023. p. 14. ISBN 9771475971140.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  11. ^ "Far North request-stop kiosk on trial". Today's Railways UK. No. 248. Platform 5. October 2022. p. 16. ISBN 9771475971140.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  12. ^ "First of Scotland's request-stop kiosks goes live". The Railway Magazine. No. 1458. Mortons of Horncastle. September 2022. p. 8. ISBN 9770033892354.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  13. ^ Far North Line Review Group – Transport Scotland
  14. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  16. ^ eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 219
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