Wemyss Bay railway station
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Wemyss Bay  | |
|---|---|
| Scottish Gaelic: Bàgh Wemyss[1] | |
 Interior of the railway station | |
| Location | |
| Place | Wemyss Bay |
| Local authority | Inverclyde |
| Coordinates | 55°52′37″N 4°53′21″W / 55.8769°N 4.8891°W / 55.8769; -4.8891Coordinates: 55°52′37″N 4°53′21″W / 55.8769°N 4.8891°W / 55.8769; -4.8891 |
| Grid reference | NS192685 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | WMS |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2013/14 |  0.213 million |
| 2014/15 | 0.216 million |
| 2015/16 |  0.166 million |
| 2016/17 | 0.201 million |
| 2017/18 | 0.214 million |
| Passenger Transport Executive | |
| PTE | SPT |
| History | |
| Original company | Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Caledonian Railway |
| Post-grouping | LMS |
| 15 May 1865 | Opened[2] |
National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wemyss Bay from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Wemyss Bay railway station serves the village of Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde, Scotland. The station is a terminus on the Inverclyde Line, about 26 miles (42 km) west of Glasgow Central. The station incorporates the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal connecting mainland Scotland to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail.
In Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins, the station was one of only ten to be awarded five stars.[3]
Contents
1 History
2 Station building
3 Services
4 References
4.1 Notes
4.2 Sources
5 Gallery
6 External links
History
Work began in late 1862 on the single track Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway branching from the main Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway at Port Glasgow and taking an inland route across to the coast at Inverkip before descending to Wemyss Bay. This was to connect to Clyde steamer services for Rothesay, Largs and Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, allowing a combined train and steamer journey time of an hour and a half, compared with a typical time of three hours by steamer from Glasgow. The Wemyss Bay Steamboat Company was formed to own the connecting steamers, competing with the private owners of other Clyde steamer services. The route opened on 15 May 1865, but over-ambitious timetables led to severe delays during the first year, damaging the company's reputation, and the route subsequently faced strong competition from other pierheads.
Train services were electrified in 1967 by British Rail, using the 25 kV AC system.
Station building
The station was designed by James Miller in 1903 for the Caledonian Railway and is remarkable in its use of glass and steel curves. The station is noted for its architectural qualities and, although one of Scotland's finest railway buildings and Category A listed, it has suffered from neglect. A major refurbishment scheme carried out jointly by Network Rail, Inverclyde Council and the Scottish Government from June 2014 to the spring of 2016 has seen the station buildings and adjacent ferry terminal fully restored.[4][5]
Two platforms are currently in use, though there were three available until 1987.[6]
Services
There is an hourly service daily to Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Central (including Sundays), with one or two extra weekday peak trains.[7] The average journey time is 55 minutes.
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Terminus | | Abellio ScotRail Inverclyde Line | | Inverkip |
 Ferry services | ||||
Rothesay | | Caledonian MacBrayne Bute Ferry | | Terminus |
| | Historical railways | | ||
Terminus | | Caledonian Railway Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway | | Inverkip Line and station open |
References
Notes
^ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
^ Butt (1995), page 244
^ Morrison, Richard (9 December 2017). "Review: Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "News - Friends of Wemyss Bay Station" Retrieved 2 September 2016
^ "Station improvements for Wemyss Bay"Largs & Millport Weekly News article 27 June 2014; Retrieved 2 September 2016
^ "Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway" Crawford, E Railscot; Retrieved 2 September 2016
^ Table 219 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.
Clark, A.J.C. (2001). Caley to the Coast : Rothesay by Wemyss Bay (1st ed.). Usk: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-8536-1580-2. OCLC 48979972.
McCrorie, Ian (1986). Clyde Pleasure Steamers (1st ed.). Greenock: Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd. ISBN 1-869850-00-9. OCLC 20596284.
Gallery
The station seen from the road, with MV Bute at the slip
The pier and station from the south, with MV Coruisk being loaded
Class 303 unit 303 089 in unrefurbished condition with TransClyde markings at Wemyss Bay
The station in 1994
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wemyss Bay railway station. |
- YouTube video of the station's interior
