Burntisland railway station

Burntisland railway station is a railway station in the town of Burntisland, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line.

Burntisland Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Loisgte[1]
Location	Burntisland, Fife Scotland
Coordinates	56.0573°N 3.2335°W
Grid reference	NT232856
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BTS
Passengers
2015/16	0.236 million
2016/17	0.229 million
2017/18	0.231 million
2018/19	0.226 million
2019/20	0.211 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The Edinburgh and Northern Railway chose Burntisland as its southern terminus, opening its main line north across Fife to Lindores & Cupar (branch line) in September 1847. These were extended by the following summer to Hilton Junction, near Perth, and Tayport.

From Burntisland, a ferry service ran across the River Forth to Granton in the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, from where trains could be taken to various destinations across central and south-west Scotland. The current station dates from 1890, when the Forth Rail Bridge and associated connecting lines were opened to provide a direct route across the Forth estuary to Edinburgh Waverley.[2]

Accidents and incidents

The accident to the Flying Scotsman in 1914

On 14 April 1914, an express passenger train hauled by NBR H class locomotive 872 Auld Reekie was in collision with a freight train that was being shunted. The cause of the accident was an error by the signalman.[3] Two people were killed.[4]

Services

Two trains per hour call at the station off peak (Mon-Sat), running southbound to Inverkeithing and Edinburgh and northbound to Kirkcaldy & Glenrothes with Thornton. One of the latter then continues along the western side of the Fire Circle line back to Edinburgh via Cowdenbeath. Evenings see an hourly service, with some through trains beyond Kirkcaldy to Dundee or Perth, whilst on Sundays the first northbound diagram of the day is a semi-fast service to Aberdeen, with an hourly service each way around the Circle thereafter.[5]

References

1. Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. "Gaelic/English Station Index". Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
2. "Edinburgh & Northern Railway" Crawford, Ewan, Railscot; Retrieved 18 July 2016
3. Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 4. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 30. ISBN 0 906899 07 9.
4. http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=391
5. Table 242 National Rail timetable, May 2016