Motherwell looking from the south,with stabling sidings in the foreground. Platform 4 is closest to the camera. The bridge in the foreground has recently been replaced with a DDA compliant one.View northward towards Glasgow Central in 1966
The first station in Motherwell was opened by the Wishaw and Coltness Railway on 8 May 1843 and was located at Orbiston.[2] As Orbiston station was quite some distance from the rapidly expanding Motherwell town centre,the decision was taken by the Caledonian Railway to build a station at 'Lesmahagow Junction',the point where the Motherwell Deviation branch of the Caledonian Railway Main Line met the lines to Mossend,Hamilton and Lesmahagow. That Motherwell station was opened on 31 July 1885 on a site conveniently in the heart of the town which replaced the original station.
The current station was built by British Rail during the 1970s (on the same site) to coincide with the completion of electrification of the West Coast Main Line from Carlisle to Glasgow which was completed in 1974. It has four through platforms,crossed by two overbridges with the main buildings being above the level of the line between Platforms 2 and 3. At platform level between Platforms 2 and 3 there is also an ScotRail traincrew depot,staff car park and an office of the British Transport Police. These are accessible via a gated rampway leading to street level.
Beyond Platform 4 are some electrified sidings used for the stabling of trains overnight. Diagrams are nominally worked so that these units will only stay at Motherwell for one night before returning to their allocated depot.
Local services departing to and from the station are provided by ScotRail and the majority of northbound services serve Glasgow Central (either terminating at the High Level station or passing through the Low Level station en route to Dalmuir or Milngavie),whilst southbound Argyle Line services terminate at Lanark or Carstairs. There is one train per hour to Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts. ScotRail also provide limited services (up to two per day) to North Berwick and Ayr.
TransPennine Express provides a 2 hourly service to both Glasgow Central and Manchester Airport. There is also 1 train per day to Liverpool Lime Street
Avanti West Coast provide 8 services on weekdays northbound to Glasgow Central On Saturday 7 services call northbound and on Sundays 7 trains a day
Motherwell is unusual in that Glasgow Central can be reached via trains from three different platforms going in two different directions. Glasgow is generally north-west of Motherwell,but trains can depart via the West Coast Main Line in the Motherwell deviation going north,or by the Hamilton Circle going south. The same can also be said for services to Lanark,which is south-east of Motherwell. Trains can depart towards Lanark going south via Shieldmuir,or initially north via Holytown (though this route is not normally used for timetabled trains since the December 2014 timetable alterations were implemented).
During times of disruption such as the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Uddingston and Law Junction for engineering works,Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry services can be diverted along the Hamilton Circle and Wishaw Deviation (and sometimes the line to Edinburgh via Shotts) and will use Platforms 3 and 4. Trains provided by London North Eastern Railway will generally be suspended in this event as their drivers do not have the required route knowledge. In general,a replacement bus service will operate from Motherwell,and passengers from Glasgow are advised to travel to Edinburgh via Glasgow Queen Street.
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