Montrose railway station

For other uses, see Montrose station (disambiguation).

Montrose Scottish Gaelic: Mon Rois
Montrose railway station in 2024
General information
Location	Montrose, Angus Scotland
Coordinates	56.7129°N 2.4722°W / 56.7129; -2.4722
Grid reference	NO711579
Manager	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	MTS
Key dates
1 May 1883	Opened
Passengers
2020/21	35,086
2021/22	0.188 million
2022/23	0.244 million
2023/24	0.311 million
2024/25	0.317 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Montrose railway station serves the town of Montrose in Angus, Scotland. The station overlooks the Montrose Basin and is situated on the Dundee–Aberdeen line, 90 miles (144 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley, between Arbroath and Laurencekirk. There is a crossover at the north end of the station, which can be used to facilitate trains turning back if the line south to Arbroath is blocked.

History

A Class 170 calling at the northbound platform

The current station was opened on 1 May 1883 by the North British Railway on their North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway route linking Arbroath with the Scottish North Eastern Railway main line through Strathmore at Kinnaber Junction. A comparison of the first and second editions of the Six-Inch Ordnance Survey Maps illustrates the changes brought about by the railway.

The station has been through several renamings in the past: it was renamed to Montrose Central in the early days of British Rail, before being renamed to Montrose East in 1952, and finally reverting to just Montrose again in 1961.

The station was host to a LMS caravan in 1936 followed by three caravans from 1937 to 1939.

The section of line across the viaduct and on to Usan is the only single track section on the entire line between Edinburgh & Aberdeen - though the rest of the route was doubled by the NBR in the years after opening, the cost of widening or rebuilding the viaduct to accommodate double track was deemed prohibitive and so it remained single. Until recently, the section was worked by signal boxes at each end (Usan and Montrose South) using tokenless block regulations, but a 2010 resignalling scheme saw both boxes closed and control transferred to the former Montrose North box - this now supervises the entire area including the single line over the viaduct. The work also made the southbound platform at the station bi-directional.

The current station building was opened by Councillor W.K. Fitzgerald, the Convenor of Tayside Regional Council, on Monday, July 30, 1984. It won a First Class award in 1984 as part of the Best Restored Station Competition.

In 2024, disused land that previously housed railway sidings was listed for sale.

Facilities

The station is equipped with a ticket office, toilets, a car park, bike racks and a payphone adjacent to platform 1. Both platforms have benches and help points, whilst platform 2 has a shelter, and are linked by a step-free access footbridge.

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Montrose

	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	2024–25
Entries and exits	319,072	345,974	348,029	369,377	365,922	355,978	378,284	386,600	390,140	396,209	404,136	388,864	354,190	350,126	337,860	333,808	35,086	188,344	243,796	311,448	317,406

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

The station is served by four train operating companies:

• ScotRail trains stop here regularly on both the Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley to Aberdeen routes throughout the week. Certain Aberdeen trains are extended to Inverness. Approximately hourly trains run from Montrose to Inverurie, as part of an Aberdeen Crossrail plan to see hourly trains through the city.
• London North Eastern Railway operate three trains to London King's Cross, as well as one train per day to Leeds.
• CrossCountry operate two southbound trains: one to Plymouth and one to Edinburgh; however, Aberdeen-bound trains do not stop here.
• Scottish Rail Holdings operate the daily overnight Caledonian Sleeper service to/from London Euston, although they do not stop here on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Arbroath		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper		Stonehaven
		CrossCountry Cross Country Route Southbound only
		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line
		ScotRail Dundee–Aberdeen line		Laurencekirk
Terminus		ScotRail Aberdeen Crossrail		Laurencekirk To Inverurie
	Historical railways
Lunan Bay Line open; Station closed		North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway		Hillside Line open; Station closed
Terminus		Montrose and Bervie Railway		Broomfield Line closed; Station closed

Bibliography

• 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.
• 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 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Quick, Michael (2022). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.

External links

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