Falls of Cruachan railway station

Falls of Cruachan railway station is a railway station located at the foot of Ben Cruachan in Scotland. This station is on the Oban branch of the West Highland Line, originally part of the Callander and Oban Railway.

Falls of Cruachan Scottish Gaelic: Eas Chruachain[1]
The station in May 2019
Location	Ben Cruachan, Argyll and Bute Scotland
Coordinates	56.3940°N 5.1126°W
Grid reference	NN079267
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	FOC
History
Original company	Callander and Oban Railway
Pre-grouping	Callander and Oban Railway operated by Caledonian Railway
Key dates
1 October 1893	Opened
1 November 1965	Closed
20 June 1988	Re-opened
Passengers
2015/16	734
2016/17	734
2017/18	726
2018/19	538
2019/20	626
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Services

All services at Falls of Cruachan are operated by Abellio ScotRail. However, unlike other stations on the line, the station is only open in the summer months from March to October every year. This is because the station is mainly used by hikers in the summer months, who walk past the falls to climb Ben Cruachan. When the station is operational, four eastbound trains to Glasgow Queen Street and five westbound trains to Oban stop on weekdays and Saturdays along with three each way on Sundays.[2]

History

The shelter at the Falls of Cruachan station.

The station (on the lower slopes of Ben Cruachan, above Loch Awe) opened on 1 October 1893 with a single platform on the south side of the line. It was closed on 1 November 1965.

Reopening

The station was reopened on 20 June 1988 by BR's West Highland Area Business Group, at a cost of just £10,000 – achieved by collecting "dumped" concrete sleepers from the lineside all over the Highlands and having them stacked at the site of the old station here. They were topped by slabs, and BR's Business Manager Highland, Callum MacLeod persuaded the then Strathclyde Regional Council to rebuild the footpath down to the A85 and to install a pavement from there to the Cruachan Power Station Visitors Centre about 300 yards away. There is no station lighting, so trains call during daylight hours only. Col. Dalziel, retiring as Chairman of the Scottish TUCC, performed the opening ceremony. Some years later, a shelter and better signing were added to the halt.

Signalling

Although Falls of Cruachan station has never had any signalling directly associated with it, its platform falls within the four mile stretch of railway that is protected by the Pass of Brander stone signals.

Accidents

On 6 June 2010, a two carriage train from Glasgow to Oban derailed near Falls of Cruachan station. The train derailed shortly before 8.53 p.m. and was left balanced precariously on a 15-metre (50 ft) embankment. There was also a minor fire. Sixty passengers had been on board the train, but all were safely evacuated down the line to the station with no major injuries.[3][4][5] Nine people were injured. The train hit a boulder that had fallen onto the track. The train crew later received a commendation for the actions they took to protect their passengers.[6]

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. Table 227 National Rail timetable, May 2016
3. "Boulders 'caused Glasgow to Oban rail derailment'". BBC News. 7 June 2010.
4. "Train derailment in Scotland leaves carriages "precariously balanced" over a 15 metre embankment". Daily Mirror. 6 June 2010.
5. "Passengers in hospital after Glasgow to Oban train derails". STV. 7 June 2010.
6. The Railway Observer. August 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)

• 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 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Fryer, Charles (1989). The Callander and Oban Railway. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-8536-1377-X. OCLC 21870958.

• 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.

External links

• Video footage of Falls of Cruachan railway station