In 1850 the main station building was to the west of Greenfield Bridge and south of the rails, it consisted of a ticket office leading onto a platform and an island platform with a "passenger shed" on the north of the running lines, both "arranged as to accommodate parties intending to travel on either the main line or the Tillicoultry branch". There was a goods yard, with a large shed, to the north and sidings both sides, on the east of Greenfield Bridge was a two-road engine shed and turntable.[4][5]
Passengers for Stirling were able to continue via ferry along the River Forth to Stirling under their own arrangements, the S&DR advertised times and fares between Alloa and Dunfermline but made no mention of a ferry.[6]
The station became both a junction and a through station on 3 June 1851 when the branches to Tillicoultry and Alloa Harbour with a terminal at Alloa Ferry opened.[3]
The station was called Alloa North (and sometimes North Alloa) between 1875 and 1882 after which the North was dropped.[7] Subsequent links were added southwards to Larbert via the Alloa Railway in 1885.[8]
The network was finally completed in 1906 with the opening of a second line to Dunfermline via Kincardine and Longannet along the northern bank of the Forth estuary.[3] This line carried a passenger service until July 1930.[9] Freight services ceased on 6 April 1981.[10]
A number of alterations were undertaken in 1885 to accommodate the Caledonian Railway using the station when the Alloa swing bridge and branch opened. Prior to these improvements the local newspaper described the NBR station as a "small and dingy-looking erection which has ... for many years been an eye-sore to the town's people, and quite inadequate for the traffic; and although it has been improved upon from time to time, these improvements have only made its incapacity to meet the requirements of modern tastes and the greatly increased traffic the more apparent."[11]
To accommodate the CR at its station the NBR firstly opened a new goods station on 21 September 1885 to the east of Glasshouse Loan on the Harbour branch in order to create some space at the passenger station, it also undertook some alterations to the station itself prior to a major rebuilding scheduled for the following few years.[11]
The CR opened its own goods station at a site on the western side of Glasshouse Loan, directly opposite the NBR one. The CR set up its own passenger booking office at Alloa station, in what had formerly been the parcel office.[11]
The rebuilt station opened on 22 November 1887, there was a new station building on the east side of Greenfield Bridge with a gated entrance from the bridge onto a forecourt. The booking hall was described as a "fine spacious room" with offices for both Companies, and access to the parcel office "fitted up with one of the modern hydraulic hoists". A wide staircase went down to the platform where there were four waiting rooms; general, ladies, ladies' first-class and gentlemen's first-class. There was a refreshment room, telegraph office, "commodious lavatories" and railway administration offices. The wide island platform, with two inset bays at its west end extended a long way westward under Greenfield Bridge and had extensive awnings.[12][13]
Closure
The station site seen in 1991
During the mid-1960s the lines around Alloa were progressively closed. The passenger service to Tillicoultry was the first to go on 15 June 1964 (with total closure following on 25 June 1973, with the ending of coal-mining at Dollar).[3][14]
The line across the swing bridge to Larbert followed in January 1968.[15]
The station itself together with the main former S&DR line from Stirling via Cambus through Alloa and on to Dumfermline Upper was then closed to passengers on 7 October 1968.[3] Freight services continued until 1979,[3] though the nearby Alloa marshalling yard to the west remained open until 1988 (latterly used only by the trip freights to the yeast factory at Menstrie).[citation needed] Following the full closure of Alloa station, a leisure centre was built on the site, though a narrowed formation and a single track was kept for freight services.
The remainder of the original S&DR through the station towards the east continued in use for colliery traffic until 1979 (this has since been lifted) and the Kincardine branch until 6 April 1981.[16] This latter route was left derelict but intact for some years and has since been reopened, along with the station (see below).
Re-opening
The reopened station seen in 2013
The new station building was designed by IDP Architects.[17]
In 2008, the railway reopened, with a new Alloa station situated to the east of its predecessor, due to the earlier construction of the leisure centre. A passenger-operated self-service ticket machine was installed in July 2008; the illustrated ticket was issued at Stirling station.
Under Scottish Executive funding, the line between Stirling and Alloa was reopened to both passenger and freight traffic, with a key benefit being a reduction in congestion on the Forth Railway Bridge.[18] Construction work started in 2005, with track laying commencing at the end of September 2006. It was originally projected that the station would reopen to passenger traffic in the Summer of 2007 but this date was then put back to allow for the upgrading of a level crossing.
The official opening took place on Thursday, 15 May 2008.
Passenger use of the new railway station has greatly exceeded forecasts and since re-opening the service has been improved by increasing evening and Sunday frequencies from two-hourly to hourly and by adding the peak hour service to Edinburgh in 2009. In its first year the station was used by 400,000 passengers, against a forecast of 155,000.[19]
Facilities
The station has a nearby car park with 64 spaces but is not permanently staffed.[20] The completion of electrification of the railway between Polmont Junction, Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa during 2018 allowed the introduction of electric-powered rolling stock for services from 9 December 2018.[21]
Services
The current service (2023) gives a mostly half-hourly train to Stirling and Glasgow seven days a week.[22] The journey time to Stirling is timetabled to take 9–10 minutes. Services are usually operated by Class 385 EMUs. Connections for Falkirk and Edinburgh can be made at Stirling.
Clackmannanshire, or the County of Clackmannan, is a historic county, council area, registration county and lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth and Kinross. In terms of historic counties it borders Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Fife.
Alloa is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to be the River Forth and becomes the Firth of Forth. Alloa is south of the Ochil Hills, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east of Stirling and 7.9 miles (12.7 km) north of Falkirk; by water Alloa is 25 miles (40 km) from Granton.
The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving the company.
The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rather, a point to point service that reverses at the Edinburgh end, and has a large bi-directional balloon loop at the Fife end.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station and Haymarket railway station in Edinburgh. Construction cost £1,200,000 for 46 miles (74 km). The intermediate stations were at Corstorphine, Gogar, Ratho, Winchburgh, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk, Castlecary, Croy, Kirkintilloch and Bishopbriggs. There was a ticket platform at Cowlairs. The line was extended eastwards from Haymarket to North Bridge in 1846, and a joint station for connection with the North British Railway was opened on what is now Edinburgh Waverley railway station in 1847.
Croy railway station serves the village of Croy – as well as the nearby town of Kilsyth and parts of Cumbernauld – in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Located on the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line, 11+1⁄2 miles (18.5 km) northeast of Glasgow Queen Street. It is served by services on the Glasgow–Edinburgh mainline and services between Glasgow Queen Street and Stirling. Train services are provided by ScotRail.
Bishopbriggs railway station is a railway station serving Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is located on the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line, 3+1⁄4 miles (5.2 km) north of Glasgow Queen Street, but is currently only served by services on the Croy Line.
Larbert railway station is a railway station serving Larbert near Falkirk, Scotland.
Stirling railway station is a railway station located in Stirling, Scotland. It is located on the former Caledonian Railway main line between Glasgow and Perth. It is the junction for the branch line to Alloa and Dunfermline via Kincardine and is also served by trains on the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line and long-distance services to Dundee and Aberdeen and to Inverness via the Highland Main Line.
Dunfermline Queen Margaret railway station is a railway station in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 18+1⁄2 miles (29.8 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley. The station takes its name from the nearby Queen Margaret Hospital. It is the longest railway station name in Scotland.
The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary.
The Stirling–Alloa–Kincardine rail link is a completed railway project to re-open 21 kilometres (13 mi) of railway between Stirling, Alloa and Kincardine in Scotland. The route opened to rail traffic in March 2008.
The Stirling and Dunfermline Railway was a railway in Scotland connecting Stirling and Dunfermline. It was planned by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to get access to the mineral deposits on the line of route, but also as a tactical measure to keep the rival Caledonian Railway out of Fife.
The Kincardine Line is a railway in Clackmannanshire and Fife, Scotland. It was originally built to serve settlements along the north shore of the Firth of Forth, between Alloa and Dunfermline.
The Alloa Railway was intended to bridge the River Forth linking Alloa with the south without using a ferry.
The Forth and Clyde Junction Railway was a railway line in Scotland which ran from Stirling to Balloch.
The Devon Valley Railway linked Alloa and Kinross in central Scotland, along a route following the valley of the River Devon. Its construction took 20 years from the first section opening in 1851, to the final section in 1871. Three railway companies were involved, and it encountered a great many problems both with finance and engineering.
The Railways of Kinross were a local network of three rural railways which made the town of Kinross in Scotland their objective in the 1850s.
The Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway was a railway company founded to form part of a rail and ferry route between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was authorised in 1873 and its promoters had obtained informal promises from the larger North British Railway that the NBR would provide financial help, and also operate the ferry and the necessary railway on the southern side of the Firth of Forth.
Tillicoultry railway station served the town of Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, Scotland from 1851 to 1964 on the Devon Valley Railway and the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway.
References
↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6thed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN978-0-9549866-9-8.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Thomas, John; Turnock, David (1989). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Vol.15 The North of Scotland (1sted.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp.311–312. ISBN0-946537-03-8.
Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1sted.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC22311137.
Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1sted.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC228266687.
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