Ardrossan Town Railway Station
For other railway stations in Ardrossan see Ardrossan railway station (disambiguation).Ardrossan Town railway station is one of three railway stations in the town of Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line.
History
The station was opened in 1831 by the Ardrossan and Johnstone Railway (later known as the Ardrossan Railway) and was simply known as Ardrossan. The station was renamed Ardrossan Town by British Railways on 2 March 1953. Located on Princes Street (the centre of Ardrossan at the time of construction), the station once consisted of a large red sandstone building with adjoining goods facilities. There was a double track to the harbour as well as a double bay platform in the station itself.
The station was closed on 1 January 1968, and lay derelict for a number of years, though the double lines into the station bay platforms remained and were used by DMUs from time to time, presumably for storage. The road nearby was controlled for many years by a level crossing with full gates which would close to let trains past.
Reopening
The cut-down station from nearby Castle HillUpon electrification of the Ayrshire Coast Line, the station was reopened on 19 January 1987, albeit on a far smaller scale and unmanned. The double line to the harbour was reduced to a single track which used one platform with a 'bus shelter'. After electrification the level crossing gates remained for a number of years but have since been removed.The red sandstone buildings remained unused but were later refurbished for use as commercial properties and the branch lines into the bay platforms at the station were lifted.
Access to the station is now off Princes Street, next to the level crossing. In the early 2000s the original station buildings were demolished and replaced by a contemporary red-brick commercial unit.
Services
Monday to Saturdays there is an hourly service westbound to Glasgow Central with occasional services eastbound to Ardrossan Harbour to connect with the ferry service to Brodick on the Isle of Arran.
There is no Sunday service. Passengers can use Ardrossan South Beach station instead.
Footnotes
This content is taken from Wikipedia and is re-used according to the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
