Banavie railway station

Banavie
Scottish Gaelic: Banbhaidh
The platform at Banavie in the snow, February 2009
Location
Place	Banavie
Local authority	Highland
Coordinates	56.843°N 5.095°W / 56.843; -5.095
Operations
Station code	BNV
Managed by	First ScotRail
Number of platforms	1
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	2,514
2005/06 *	2,688
2006/07 *	3,066
2007/08 *	4,037
2008/09 *	4,918
History
Original company	Mallaig Extension Railway of West Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
1 April 1901	Station opened
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Banavie from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Banavie railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line serving the village of Banavie, although it is much closer to Caol. To continue on to the next station at Corpach, trains must pass over the Caledonian Canal at Neptune's Staircase, a popular tourist attraction.

History

Banavie station opened along with the Mallaig Extension Railway on 1 April 1901. It comprises a single platform on the north side of the line.

Services

Three or four trains a day use the line in either direction. Services are operated by First ScotRail.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Fort William		First ScotRail West Highland Line		Corpach
	Historical railways
Fort William Line and Station open		North British Railway Mallaig Extension Railway of West Highland Railway		Corpach Line and Station open

Signalling

The swing bridge with signal box and station beyond

From the time of its opening in 1901, the Mallaig Extension Railway was worked throughout by the electric token system. A signal box, named "Banavie Canal Bridge", was located at the west end of the station, on the north side of the line. It did not become a token station until 4 February 1912, but originally existed to control the nearby level crossings and the adjacent swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal.

Because of the continuing requirement to operate the swing bridge locally, Banavie was chosen as the location for the control centre for the West Highland Line's new radio signalling system. Banavie signalling centre opened on 14 June 1987 when it replaced the old Canal Bridge signal box. The Radio Electronic Token Block signalling was commissioned on 6 December 1987. The control centre covers train movements as far south as Helensburgh and Oban and Mallaig to the west. Local train movements in Fort William and the nearby freight yard at Inverlochy are controlled by the mechanical signal box at Fort William Junction.

References

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• 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 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687. 
• RAILSCOT on Mallaig Extension Railway