Inverkip railway station

Inverkip Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Other names	Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Chip
Location	Inverclyde
Coordinates	55.9060°N 4.8724°W / 55.9060; -4.8724
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	INP

Inverkip railway station is a railway station serving the village of Inverkip, Inverclyde, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Inverclyde Line, 28¾ miles (46 km) west of Glasgow Central.

The embankment is all that remains of the former Down platform. All of the station buildings have now been removed and replaced with a bus shelter. The flats at the station (known as The Kyles) are built in what was the station goods yard. There was also a coal yard located in this area. Inverkip also had its own signal box, located at the end of the down platform. In the 1950s and 1960s, an old railway carriage was located in the goods yard and used as a camping coach. At the further end of the yard area, where the housing development is located, are the parapets of a metal overbridge, presumably used to move goods across from the up platform.

The station, built in 1865, was substantially modified in 2012 to accommodate the erection of a footbridge with an integrated lift. This structure was required as a planning permission clause related to the construction of a new housing estate in the fields across the line from the station. It was not possible to fit a ramped bridge in the available space, hence the need for a lift, making Inverkip one of the few unmanned stations in Scotland to have a lift (other examples can be found at Prestwick International Airport and Edinburgh Park). The shelter was replaced and relocated further west and the steps from station Avenue were relocated slightly further east. Temporary steps were put in place during the year-long construction project. The lift serves the platform level and the footbridge level. Strangely, it is necessary to exit the station in order to access the steps to the footbridge since there are no steps directly from the platform to the bridge. There are no steps to the bridge on the other side of the line due to the steep embankment there.

Groundworks for the footbridge started in 2011, with the main span being lifted into place in the early hours of 15 July 2012. The bridge was formally opened in December 2012. A Park & Ride car park with 26 spaces was also opened across the line from the station at that time.

Services

The station is served mainly by Class 380s with Class 314s also used to cover peak periods. Class 320s were used occasionally during the winter of 2016/17.

There is an hourly service daily (including Sundays) from Inverkip, westbound to Wemyss Bay and eastbound to Glasgow Central via Paisley Gilmour Street.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wemyss Bay		Abellio ScotRail Inverclyde Line		Branchton
	Historical railways
Wemyss Bay Line and station open		Caledonian Railway Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway		Ravenscraig Line open; station closed
Wemyss Bay		Abellio ScotRail Inverclyde Line		IBM

Gallery

• 
  The western end of the tunnels which run beneath the steeply sloped Commoncraig. The tunnel on the right has been out of use since electrification of the Wemyss Bay line in 1966.
• 
  This was once a fairly grand station with two platforms, substantial buildings and a goods yard. It is now reduced to one platform with bus shelter. Dunrod Hill is visible in the distance, beyond the trees.
• 
  View past the footbridge towards the former IBM Halt station.
• 
  The lift at footbridge deck level.
• 
  Looking across the line to the station from Lochans Drive.

External links

• Train times and station information for Inverkip railway station from National Rail