Crianlarich railway station

Crianlarich Scottish Gaelic: A' Chrìon-Làraich [1]
Looking north towards Tyndrum
General information
Location	Crianlarich, Stirling Scotland
Coordinates	56°23′25″N4°37′07″W / 56.3903°N 4.6185°W / 56.3903; -4.6185
Grid reference	NN384251
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CNR [2]
History
Original company	West Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
Key dates
7 August 1894	Opened
1953	Suffix "Upper" added to station name.
After 1965	Suffix "Upper" removed from station name.
Passengers
2018/19	16,960
Interchange	11,085

Crianlarich (Upper) station in 1957

The station buildings from the south

Crianlarich station opened concurrently with the West Highland Railway on 7 August 1894, ^{[4] [5]} doubling the number of railway stations in the village. The lines and station were eventually built by the state under compulsory purchase arrangements sought after the persistent rejection by the landowners the Place family of Loch Dochart House and Skelton Grange, Yorkshire, who even turned down the offer of having all the proceeds from the two station tea-rooms in perpetuity. The Places felt that the project would spoil their shooting grounds; the family sold their house and estate shortly after their defeat and retreated to Yorkshire.

The station was laid out with a crossing loop around an island platform and sidings on both sides. On the east side there was an engine shed and a turntable. Three years after opening, in 1897, a junction and link line down to the Callander and Oban Railway, which passed below the West Highland route, was added. Originally, the junction incorporated a scissors crossover, allowing simultaneous moves through the junction. However until 1931 the link line was only used to exchange goods wagons between the two lines. From 1931 onwards, it was also used for excursion traffic from Glasgow and the surrounding areas to the Oban line.

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1937 to 1939. ^[6]

In 1951, British Rail added the suffix "Upper" to the station's name, in order to distinguish it from the nearby station (only about 330-yard (300 m) walk along the north east access road) on the Callander and Oban Line which then became known as Crianlarich Lower. ^[4]

Since closure of the Callander and Oban Line east of Crianlarich in 1965 due to a landslide that submerged the railway in Glen Ogle, all trains to Oban have been routed up the West Highland Line as far as Crianlarich Upper station. They then join the remaining part of the Oban line by means of the link line, which had formerly been infrequently used.

Crianlarich Lower station closed on 28 September 1965, and on 1 November 1965 the Upper station's name reverted to "Crianlarich". ^[4]

The late 19th century 13-bay brick engine shed still stands and Historic Scotland have designated it as a category C listed building. ^[7]

Freight facilities

Timber wagons being loaded at Crianlarich (19 July 2006)

The area around the station is forested. The sidings on the west side of the station were used for loading timber until December 2008 when the carriage of Scottish timber by rail ceased in connection with the recession. As of June 2015, there is still no sign of the service being reinstated. Timber trains leaving the sidings at Crianlarich often paused at Arrochar and Tarbet to attach further wagons, the sidings at both stations are now used by the Area Civil Engineer for the storage of materials.

Facilities

The station is equipped with a tea room, a waiting room, benches, an accessible toilet and bike racks. Access to the platform is via a flight of stairs from a subway that runs underneath the tracks, from two car parks. ^[8] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Crianlarich ^[9]

	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
Entries and exits	9,812	10,576	10,464	10,587	11,163	10,700	11,820	13,544	16,666	15,276	13,040	16,752	16,726	16,672	17,586	16,960	14,250	2,428	11,030
Interchanges	N/A	76,886	925	3,781	10,942	1,630	2,567	2,149	1,319	1,347	20,491	1,619	1,466	1,775	3,666	11,085	37,641	7,388	27,662

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

Northbound, Crianlarich is where the combined trains for Oban and Mallaig divide, with each of the services leaving roughly five minutes apart. Southbound, when each train arrives from Oban or Mallaig, it joins with the other and they go down as one train from Crianlarich.

On weekdays and Saturdays, there are a total of seven southbound ScotRail trains to Glasgow Queen Street. Northbound, there are three trains which divide, with portions to go to Oban and Mallaig, as well as three trains which only go to Oban. On Sundays, there are three services to Oban and two to Mallaig, and there are three trains to Glasgow Queen Street. On Summer Sundays, an extra train from Edinburgh to Oban and back runs, which does not go via Glasgow. ^{[10] [11]}

The Caledonian Sleeper runs southbound to London Euston on Sunday and weekday nights, and northbound to Fort William on weekday and Saturday mornings. The Sleeper conveys seats to carry regular passengers as far as Edinburgh. ^[12]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ardlui		ScotRail West Highland Line		Tyndrum Lower
				Upper Tyndrum
Ardlui		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Upper Tyndrum
	Historical railways
Ardlui Line open; Station open		West Highland Railway North British Railway		Tyndrum Line open; Station open
Southern end of link line		Callander and Oban Railway Crianlarich Link Line Operated by Caledonian Railway		Tyndrum Lower Line open; Station open

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. pp. .page. ISBN   978 1909431 26 3.
4. Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
5. "The West Highland Railway". The Times. London. 7 August 1894. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
6. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 11. ISBN   1-870119-48-7.
7. "CRIANLARICH, CRIANLARICH STATION, ENGINE SHED". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
8. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
9. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
10. eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 218
11. eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218
12. eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 220

Bibliography

• 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

• Video footage of Crianlarich station