Dumbarton Central railway station

15+3⁄4 miles (25.3 km) northwest of Glasgow Queen Street.

Dumbarton Central Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Breatann Meadhain [1]
View of Dumbarton Central station, looking east
General information
Location	Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire Scotland
Coordinates	55°56′47″N4°34′02″W / 55.9465°N 4.5673°W / 55.9465; -4.5673
Grid reference	NS397755
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	ScotRail
Transit authority	SPT
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	DBC
Fare zone	D2
History
Original company	Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway & Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway & North British Railway
Post-grouping	LMS & LNER
Key dates
15 July 1850	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	0.718 million
Interchange	0.103 million

The station was opened on 15 July 1850 by the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway ^{[ citation needed ]} on their route from Balloch Pier to Bowling, where travellers could join steamships on the River Clyde to get to Glasgow. Connections with the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway at Dalreoch Junction and at Bowling put the station on a through route between Glasgow Queen Street and Helensburgh Central by 1858. The company was subsequently absorbed by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in 1862 and eventually became part of the North British Railway three years later. However, in 1891, the North British was forced to come to an agreement with the rival Caledonian Railway to give the latter access to Balloch (and the Loch Lomond steamships) over C&DJR metals in order to prevent the building of a competing route by the Caledonian company - this resulted in the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway arriving from Possil via Maryhill Central in 1896.^{[ citation needed ]} Trains on the West Highland Railway also began serving the station following its completion on 1 August 1894 and these continue to call here to this day.

The station was built with two island platforms to permit convenient interchange between the various services that called, although only three faces remain in use (the former down loop on the southbound side having been removed). The Helensburgh and Balloch lines were electrified by British Railways as part of the 1960 North Clyde Line electrification scheme, but most of the L&DR route was closed (other than the short section through neighbouring Dumbarton East) when passenger services to Possil via Dalmuir Riverside were withdrawn on 5 October 1964 as a result of the Beeching Axe. As of 2022, the loop platform on the south side of the station receives no regular services. ^[3]

Building

It is a category A listed building under the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997. ^[4]

Passenger Volume

Passenger Volume at Dumbarton Central ^[5]

	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Entries and exits	718,088	75,242	309,658
Interchanges	102,905	8,003	53,273

The statistics cover twelve-month periods that start in April.

Services

ScotRail

The station is located on the North Clyde line, with frequent services to Helensburgh, Balloch, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and it is the last station on the North Clyde line where trains on the West Highland line between Glasgow and Oban and Mallaig call before diverging from the line just before Craigendoran.^{[ citation needed ]}

As of March 2025, the typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd) is: ^[6]

• 2 tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Glasgow Queen Street (semi-fast)
• 2 tph to Airdie via Singer and Glasgow Queen Street
• 2 tph to Balloch
• 2 tph to Helensburgh Central
• 6 tpd to Glasgow Queen Street (fast)
• 6 tpd to Oban, of which 3 have a portion which divides at Crianlarich and runs to Mallaig via Fort William

The typical service on Sundays is:

• 2 tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Singer and Glasgow Queen Street
• 1 tph to Motherwell via Yoker, Glasgow Central and Whifflet
• 1 tph to Larkhall via Yoker, Glasgow Central and Hamilton Central
• 2 tph to Helensburgh Central
• 2 tph to Balloch
• 3 tpd to Glasgow Queen Street (fast)
• 3 tpd to Oban, of which 2 have a portion which divides at Crianlarich and runs to Mallaig via Fort William

Caledonian Sleeper

The Highland Sleeper service also calls in each direction daily (except Saturday nights southbound and Sunday mornings northbound), giving the station a direct link to/from London Euston via Edinburgh Waverley, Crewe and the West Coast Main Line, and providing an additional service to Fort William.^{[ citation needed ]}

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Dalmuir		ScotRail West Highland Line		Helensburgh Upper
Dalmuir		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Helensburgh Upper
Dumbarton East		ScotRail North Clyde Line		Dalreoch
	Historical railways
Dumbarton East Line and Station open		Caledonian Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway		Terminus
Bowling Line closed; Station open		Caledonian & North British Railway Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway		Dalreoch Line and Station open

References

Notes

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. Historic Environment Scotland. "CHURCH STREET, DUMBARTON CENTRAL STATION (LB24877)" . Retrieved 22 June 2020.
3. "UT Tracker" . UT Tracker. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
4. "List Buildings in West Dunbartonshire" . Retrieved 10 February 2008.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
5. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
6. "ScotRail timetables - "West Highland line" and "Dunbartonshire"". ScotRail. 26 November 2024.

Sources

• 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.