History
The station was opened along with the first section of the Caledonian Railway's main line from Carlisle in September 1847. The line initially terminated at Beattock,but was completed through to Glasgow and Edinburgh early the following year. A branch line from here to Dumfries via Lochmaben was completed in September 1863;this was constructed by the independent Dumfries,Lochmaben &Lockerbie Railway,but was absorbed by the Caledonian company two years later. Though this route allowed the Caledonian company to reach Dumfries and thus compete with the rival Glasgow and South Western Railway,it never developed beyond country branch status.
On 4 May 1882,an accident occurred when the branch service from Stranraer via the Dumfries,Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway passed a signal and entered the station at 23:25. It collided at low speed,with a goods train already on the northbound line. This collision,though minor,forced carriages from the goods train onto the southbound line and into the path of the speeding Glasgow Express,which smashed into the wreckage and derailed onto the station platform. Seven people were killed,including the driver and fireman of the express. The guard from the express ran down the line to warn another approaching train of the accident and prevented a further collision. There were 300 injuries. The driver of the first train,the Lockerbie stationmaster and the local inspection regime were all criticised for their actions in the subsequent report on the crash. [2]
The branch to Dumfries was closed to passenger services by the British Transport Commission in May 1952. Goods traffic continued until 1966,when the line fell victim to the Beeching Axe. With the exception of Lockerbie,all other local stations on the main line between Carlisle Citadel and Carstairs were closed during the 1960s. British Rail's first electrically-operated passenger services ran in May 1974,when the West Coast Main Line electrification project between Weaver Junction and Glasgow was completed.
Services northwards to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley suspended in January 2016 and replaced by buses,whilst major repairs were carried out the River Clyde viaduct at Lamington that was damaged by Storm Frank. Trains resumed on 22 February 2016. [3]
In 2023,open access operator Grand Union Trains announced plans to serve the station with four trains per day on a Stirling to London Euston service,to begin in June 2025. [4] [5]
Stationmasters
- James Chesney from 1863 [6] (formerly stationmaster at Beattock)
- John Wallace 1875 - 1881
- John Stothart 1881 [7] - 1883 (formerly stationmaster at West Calder)
- David Wightman 1883 [8] - 1901 (formerly stationmaster at Busby)
- Kenneth Wilson 1901 [9] - 1905 (formerly stationmaster at Kelvinbridge)
- Samuel Kerr 1905 - 1914 [10] (formerly stationmaster at Uddingston, later stationmaster at Lanark)
- William Steele 1914 [11] - 1924 (formerly stationmaster at Peebles)
- John Dickson 1924 [12] - 1925 (formerly stationmaster at Peebles)
- William Scougall 1925 [13] - 1931 (formerly stationmaster at Peebles)
- William Tinning from 1931 [14] (formerly stationmaster at Newmains)
- James W. Collins 1938 - 1939 [15] (formerly stationmaster at Dumbarton, later stationmaster at Stirling)
- William Copland 1948 [16] - 1949 (formerly stationmaster at Gleneagles)
- David M.Tyndall 1949 [17] - 1958 (formerly stationmaster at Brechin)
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