Culrain railway station

Culrain Scottish Gaelic: Cùil Rathain[1]
The platform at Culrain, looking north
General information
Location	Culrain, Highland Scotland
Coordinates	57.9196°N 4.4045°W / 57.9196; -4.4045
Grid reference	NH576947
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	CUA[2]
History
Original company	Sutherland Railway
Pre-grouping	Highland Railway
Post-grouping	LMSR
Key dates
1871[3]	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	312
2020/21	42
2021/22	164
2022/23	304
2023/24	300
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Culrain railway station serves the village of Culrain in Kyle of Sutherland in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line. It is 61 miles 0 chains (98.2 km) from Inverness, between Ardgay and Invershin.^[4] ScotRail, who manage the station, operate all services.

History

Station nameboard now preserved at the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway

The station opened in 1871, as part of the Sutherland Railway, later becoming part of the Highland Railway and later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

The original nameboard is now preserved at the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway, in Kent (see left).

Location

The station is close to Carbisdale Castle, which operated from 1945 to 2011 as a youth hostel owned by the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. The hostel has been closed since 2011 as a result of structural damage. Following its sale to a consortium in 2016,^[5] planning permission was granted in 2017/2018 to turn the castle back into a private residence but now with swimming pool.^[6]

Facilities

The station has a waiting shelter, a bench, a help point and cycle racks, and has step-free access.^[7] 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 Culrain,^[8] following successful trials of the system at Scotscalder over the previous four months.^[9][10] Previously, passengers wishing to board a train at Culrain 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.^[11]

Platform layout

The station has a single platform which is long enough for a five-coach train. The railway line through Culrain is single track, with the nearest passing loop to the north being at Lairg and to the south at Ardgay.^[4][12]

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Culrain^[13]

	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	1,756	2,016	1,707	1,771	1,785	1,886	1,722	1,708	526	474	628	530	432	372	300	280	312	42	164	304

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

On Mondays to Saturdays, there are four trains a day southbound to Inverness and four northbound to Wick. On Sundays, there is one train in each direction.^[14]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ardgay		ScotRail Far North Line		Invershin
	Historical railways
Bonar Bridge Line and Station open		Highland Railway Sutherland Railway		Invershin Line and Station open

References

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
3. Butt 1995, p. 74.
4. 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. 102. ISBN 978-1909431-26-3.
5. "Buyer found for Carbisdale Castle". BBC News. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
6. Butlin, Heather. "Planning permission". www.highland.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
7. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
8. "More request stop kiosks on Far North Line". Today's Railways UK. No. 252. Platform 5. February 2023. p. 14.
9. "Far North request-stop kiosk on trial". Today's Railways UK. No. 248. Platform 5. p. 16.
10. "First of Scotland's request-stop kiosks goes live". The Railway Magazine. No. 1458. Mortons of Horncastle. September 2022. p. 8.
11. "Far North Line Review Group | Transport Scotland". www.transport.gov.scot.
12. Brailsford 2017, map 20D.
13. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
14. eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 219

Bibliography

• 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. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
• 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.

External links

• Train times and station information for Culrain railway station from National Rail
• "RAILSCOT on Sutherland Railway".