Ayr railway station
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ayr railway station, with Abellio ScotRail Class 380s in the bay platforms | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Ayr, South Ayrshire Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 55°27′30″N 4°37′33″W / 55.4583°N 4.6258°W | ||||
| Grid reference | NS340214 | ||||
| Manager | ScotRail | ||||
Transit authority | SPT | ||||
| Platforms | 4 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | AYR | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 12 January 1886 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  0.239 million | ||||
| Interchange | 6,783 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.726 million | ||||
| Interchange | 30,337 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.821 million | ||||
| Interchange | 52,388 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.684 million | ||||
| Interchange | 41,806 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 0.796 million | ||||
| Interchange | 38,459 | ||||
Listed Building – Category B | |||||
| Designated | 10 January 1980 | ||||
| Reference no. | LB21808[2] | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
Ayr railway station serves the town of Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is situated in Smith Street, off Burns Statue Square. The station, which is managed by ScotRail, is on the Ayrshire Coast Line, 41+1⁄2 miles (66.8 km) south-west of Glasgow Central.
History
[edit]The station was opened on 12 January 1886 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.[3] This was the third station to be named 'Ayr' in the town: the original station, located on the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway, opened in 1839. When the Ayr and Dalmellington Railway was opened in 1856, a station called Ayr Townhead was opened on the south side of the town. When the original Ayr station was closed on 1 July 1857,[3] Townhead station was renamed 'Ayr', however this second station closed the same day the current station opened.[3] The current station was built just 300 yards (270 m) south of the previous station.[3] The Glasgow and South Western Railway became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, passing on to the Scottish Region of British Railways during the nationalisation of 1948.
When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by ScotRail until the privatisation of British Rail.
Station description
[edit]
Ayr station consists of two through platforms, and two bay platforms to the north.[4] The northbound platform station building used to be located on the ground floor of the four-storey hotel attached to the station, but has now relocated to a new-build ticket hall and entrance at the north end of the bay platform, due to the hotel building being condemned and partially destroyed. The southbound platform has a large single storey sandstone building.[4] The glazed canopy that covers a small section of all four platforms and the waiting area was originally much larger than its current size.[4]
The station has one of eight remaining ticket offices on the Ayr to Glasgow Central line, the others being Prestwick Town, Troon, Irvine, Kilwinning, Johnstone, Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Central. In December 2006, the station received automatic ticket barriers as part of ScotRail's revenue protection policy.[5]
Hotel
[edit]
The hotel attached to the station was originally opened by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in June 1886 and it became part of the British Transport Hotels (BTH) at nationalisation.[6] Future President Woodrow Wilson stayed in the hotel during his cycling trip in Britain in 1899.[7] It was sold by BTH in October 1951[6] and has changed ownership a number of times, having been owned by Stakis Hotels, Quality, and Swallow Hotels. Together with the railway station building, it is a category B listed building.[2]
The Station Hotel was derelict and was on the Buildings at Risk register for Scotland.[8] Its poor condition had necessitated an exclusion zone that covered a portion of the station platforms and tracks.[9] All services from Ayr to Girvan/Stranraer were operated by replacement buses due to the exclusion zone that was place around the hotel. On Monday to Saturday there was a two-hourly service from Ayr to Kilmarnock, and Ayr to Glasgow Central services ran at reduced capacity. Trains could not be longer than four carriages.[10] On 1 November 2018, ScotRail reinstated the service from Ayr to Stranraer. The first service was the first train to run south of Ayr for two months.[11]
On 25 September 2023, a severe blaze ripped through the building, destroying the roof and causing extensive damage to the interior. The fire resulted in severe rail disruptions throughout the Ayrshire region, with stations inactive as far north as Irvine and as far south as Girvan.[12] Following demolition work to the hotel, Ayr station reopened to trains on 17 June 2024.[13]
Services
[edit]The current service at Ayr is as follows:[14]
Monday to Saturdays
[edit]- Northbound (Ayrshire Coast Line): There is a half-hourly limited-stop service to Glasgow Central, with additional peak-hour services.
- Northbound (Glasgow South Western Line): There are nine departures per day to Kilmarnock operating at an irregular hourly or two-hourly frequency. One of these services continues onward to Glasgow Central.
- Southbound: There is a mostly hourly service to Girvan, with some two-hour gaps. Five of these trains per day continue past Girvan and terminate at Stranraer.
Sundays
[edit]- Northbound: There is a half-hourly service to Glasgow Central. There are no Sunday services to Kilmarnock.
- Southbound: There is a limited service of five trains a day to Stranraer.
| Preceding station |  National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | ScotRail Ayrshire Coast Line |
Newton-on-Ayr | ||
| Maybole | ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line |
Prestwick Town | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| AllowayLine and station closed | Glasgow and South Western Railway Maidens and Dunure Railway |
Connection with A&DR at Alloway Junction | ||
| Maybole Junction Line open; station closed |
Glasgow and South Western Railway Ayr and Dalmellington Railway |
Newton-on-Ayr Line and station open | ||
| Connection with A&DR at Hawkhill Junction |
Glasgow and South Western Railway Ayr to Mauchline Branch |
Auchincruive Line open; station closed | ||
Ferries
[edit]Stena Line passengers travelling on through "Rail & Sail" tickets to Belfast are provided with a free coach service direct from Ayr station to Cairnryan. This departs from outside the main entrance.[15]
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairnryan Harbour (via connecting coach or Stranraer) |
Stena Line Cairnryan-Belfast |
York Street or Belfast Grand Central (via Port of Belfast) | ||
| Cairnryan Harbour (via Stranraer) |
P&O Ferries Cairnryan-Larne |
Larne Harbour | ||
References
[edit]- ↑ Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
- 1 2 Historic Environment Scotland. "Smith Street, Ayr Station and Station Hotel including canopies, footbridge, lamp standards, gatepiers, railings and boundary wall (LB21808)". Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 Butt, p. 22
- 1 2 3 Hume, p. 46
- ↑ "ScotRail: Automatic ticket gates".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - 1 2 Carter (1990). Appendix 1.
- ↑ "Woodrow Wilson Papers: Series 1: Diaries and Diary Material, 1876-1924; Diaries, 1876-1904". Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ↑ "Station Hotel, Smith Street, Ayr". Buildings at Risk register for Scotland. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ↑ "Train delays due to station 'danger' zone". BBC News. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ↑ "20/12/18: Services return to normal at Ayr station | ScotRail". www.scotrail.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ↑ "Stories around our network". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ↑ "Ayr station hotel fire: Commuters hit as blaze burns through night". BBC News. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ↑ "Ayr-Glasgow train services to return as Ayr station partially re-opens following hotel fire". Network Rail Media Centre. 10 June 2024.
- ↑ "ScotRail Ayrshire Inverclyde and Stranraer Timetable May 2026". ScotRail. ScotRail. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
- ↑ "Sail & Rail". www.stenaline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
Bibliography
[edit]- Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 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 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- Carter, Oliver (1990). An illustrated history of British Railway Hotels: 1838-1983. St Michael's: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 0-947971-36-X.
- Hume, John R. (1976). The Industrial Archaeology of Scotland, Vol. 1: The Lowlands and Borders. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-3234-9.
External links
[edit]