Glenrothes with Thornton railway station

Glenrothes with Thornton railway station serves the communities of Glenrothes and Thornton in Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 31 ¹⁄₄ miles (50.3 km) north of Edinburgh Waverley.

Glenrothes with Thornton Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Rathais le Thornton [sic][1]
Location	Thornton, Fife Scotland
Coordinates	56.1623°N 3.1426°W
Grid reference	NT291972
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	GLT
History
Opened	11 May 1992
Passengers
2015/16	76,688
2016/17	76,916
2017/18	79,492
2018/19	76,810
2019/20	71,870
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station is situated on the Dunfermline Branch of the Edinburgh and Northern Railway, just west of its divergence from the E&NR main line via a triangular junction.[2] It is a completely new structure, having been built by British Rail with the support of Fife Regional Council to serve the two communities that it is named after. Glenrothes (as a post-war new town) had never previously had its own station (though Markinch station is nearby) whilst Thornton had lost its station (Thornton Junction) on the main line in October 1969 in the aftermath of the Beeching Axe (services on the line westwards to Cardenden and on the Leven branch had ended at the same time).

The successful inauguration of the Fife Circle Line service in 1989 had seen the Cardenden to Thornton Jn section reopened to passengers and this provided the catalyst for the construction of the station. It was completed in the spring of 1992 and it was opened to traffic on 11 May that year, at the summer timetable change.[3]

Though it has the appearance of a standard two platform station on a double track line, it is actually sited east of Thornton West Junction, where the double line from Cardenden splits into two parallel single lines that diverge after passing through the station to join the main line. One of these runs southwards to Thornton South Junction and is used by all trains to and from Edinburgh via the coast, whilst the other curves to the north and is used by trains heading for Markinch and thence to Perth or Dundee. As a consequence of this, both platforms are bi-directional (a similar layout exists at Bare Lane in Lancashire) but the southern one (platform 1) is much busier than the northern one (2) due to the service pattern in use on the Fife Circle.

Services

On Mondays to Saturdays, there are three trains per hour to Edinburgh. The majority of services in either direction depart from Platform 1 as noted. 2 of these services run via Kirkcaldy(One of which starts and terminates here) whilst the other runs via Dumfermline, In the evenings, Trains to Edinburgh only run via Dumfermline and on Sundays, An hourly service runs to Edinburgh both via Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline, These trains use Platform 1.

There is a limited service to/from Perth, As of 2018, This is as follows Monday to Fridays. There is 2 trains per day to Perth and there is also 2 trains from Perth which operate to Edinburgh via Dunfermline, 1 train per day from Edinburgh terminates here using Platform 2 but the train then goes out of service upon arriving at the station and then goes ECS (Empty Coaching Stock to Perth). On Saturdays, There is 2 trains per day to Perth and 1 from Perth, On Sundays, There is 1 train to and 2 trains from Perth, These services use Platform 2.

Typical off peak service:

2tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Kirkcaldy

1tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Dunfermline Town

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. "Dunfermline Branch (Edinburgh & Northern Railway)". Railscot. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
3. "Station Openings". scot-rail.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2014.

External links

• Train times and station information for Glenrothes with Thornton railway station from National Rail