Kintore railway station

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Kintore

Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Tòrr
National Rail
Kintore railway station in 2020
General information
LocationKintore, Aberdeenshire
Scotland
Coordinates57°14′37″N 2°21′01″W / 57.24361°N 2.35028°W / 57.24361; -2.35028
Grid referenceNJ789170
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeKTR[1]
History
Original companyGreat North of Scotland Railway
Pre-groupingGreat North of Scotland Railway
Key dates
20 September 1854[2]Opened
7 December 1964Closed
15 October 2020Reopened at a different site
Passengers
2020/21 8,474
2021/22Increase 66,168
2022/23Increase 85,348

Kintore railway station is in Kintore, Scotland on the Aberdeen–Inverness line. Originally opened in 1854, it closed in 1964 but was reopened on a different site in 2020.[3][4]

History

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Original station

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The remains of the original station in 2017 before track was redoubled

The original station was opened on 20 September 1854 and located around 550 m (600 yd) south of the current station. The station became a junction in 1859 with the opening of a branch to Alford. This branch closed to passengers in 1949. Kintore railway station itself was closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts.[5]

Modern station

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Nestrans initially raised the possibility of reopening a Kintore station in 2009 as part of its 2010-2021 Rail Action Plan[6] and it was first discussed in the Scottish Parliament in October that year.[7] Plans to reopen the station were announced in December 2012.[8]

Reopening Kintore was made possible by the completion of phase one of the Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project, which redoubled the track between Aberdeen and Inverurie, increasing capacity for new passenger and freight services on the route.[9][5] The station cost £15 million,[10] funded by Transport Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans. The main contractor was BAM Nuttall. Construction started in 2019 with opening planned for May 2020,[11][12] but work was halted between March and July 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic,[13] which caused the opening date to be pushed back to 15 October.[14][15][16]

The new Kintore station is located around 550 m (600 yd) to the north of the old one, on the site of the junction for the now dismantled Alford branch.

Facilities

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The accessible footbridge

Facilities include a new footbridge and lifts for step-free access, bike storage facilities and a 168-space car park including disabled parking and 24 charging spaces for electric vehicles. Signs and benches from the original station were refurbished and installed at the new station.[17] The station is accessible generally including ticket machines; there is a waiting room but no ticket office.[18]

Passenger volume

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Passenger Volume at Kintore[19]
2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Entries and exits 8,474 66,168 85,348

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

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The new station is served by hourly trains between Inverurie and Montrose, and other services between Aberdeen and Inverurie/Inverness. Services to Aberdeen run half hourly at peak times Monday to Saturday, with an hourly service on Sundays.[20]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Dyce   ScotRail
Aberdeen to Inverness Line
  Inverurie
Dyce
From Montrose
  ScotRail
Aberdeen Crossrail
  Inverurie
To Inverurie
  Historical railways  
Kinaldie
Line open; station closed
  Great North of Scotland Railway
GNSR Main Line
  Inverurie
Line and station open
Kemnay
Line and station closed
  Great North of Scotland Railway
Alford Valley Railway
  Terminus

References

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  1. ^ Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ^ Butt 1995, p. 135.
  3. ^ Porter, David (9 October 2020). "Kintore station set for opening". Grampian Online. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Aberdeenshire railway station reopens 56 years after closure". Evening Express. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b Work on track for north-east railway station to re-open in 2019 King, Joshua The Press & Journal article 20 April 2016; Retrieved 19 August 2016
  6. ^ Rail Action Plan 2010-2021 (PDF). Nestrans (Report). 5 January 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Aberdeen Crossrail (Kintore Station) – Debate in the Scottish Parliament at 5:00 pm on 7th October 2009". Theyworkforyou.com. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  8. ^ "New rail stations for Kintore and Dalcross"BBC News - NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland news article 7 December 2012
  9. ^ "Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Improvement Project, Scotland" Railway-Technology.com; Retrieved 19 August 2016
  10. ^ "New £15m Kintore station welcomes first passengers". Network Rail. 15 October 2020.
  11. ^ BAM wins contract for Aberdeenshire station The Construction Index article 30 May 2019; Retrieved 31 May 2019
  12. ^ Walsh, Stephen (26 March 2019). "Opening of north-east train station pushed back by six months". Press and Journal. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  13. ^ Porter, David (29 March 2020). "Kintore Station work halted". GRAMPIANONLINE.
  14. ^ Smith, Claire (3 July 2020). "Covid-19 | Network Rail restarts major projects in Scotland". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  15. ^ Morrice, Emma (22 August 2020). "New north-east train station planned to open in October". Evening Express.
  16. ^ "Kintore's first train service in more than 50 years". BBC News. BBC. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  17. ^ Beattie, Kieran (4 September 2020). "Original signs refurbished and reinstated at new Kintore railway station after decades in a farmer's shed". Press and Journal. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  18. ^ "National Rail Enquiries - Station facilities for Kintore (KTR)". nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  20. ^ eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 214

Bibliography

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