Tyndrum Lower railway station


Tyndrum Lower railway station is one of two railway stations serving the small village of Tyndrum in Scotland, the other being. This station is on the Oban branch of the West Highland Line, originally part of the Callander and Oban Railway. Most trains currently serving Fort William and Oban split or join at Crianlarich, with the result that separate trains both heading in the same direction generally call at Tyndrum's two stations at about the same time. Services are operated by Abellio ScotRail.

History

This station opened on 1 August 1873 as a terminal station. This was the first railway station in the village of Tyndrum. Until 1877, it was the western extremity of the Callander and Oban Railway.
In 1877, the Callander and Oban Railway was extended from Tyndrum to Dalmally. Concurrently, the station was relocated west, onto the new through alignment. The new station was on a higher level, as the line had to climb steeply to reach the summit about to the west. The old terminus then became the goods yard. The through station was originally laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a passing loop.
In 1894, the West Highland Railway opened a second station in Tyndrum, north of the village. In 1953, the suffixes "Upper" and "Lower" were added to the station names. Services to Callander & over the old C&O route via Strathyre ceased on 27 September 1965 - they had been scheduled for withdrawal as a result of the Beeching Axe from 1 November that year, but ended five weeks prior to that date following a landslide in Glen Ogle that blocked the trackbed. All services henceforth used the 1897 connection to the WHR at Crianlarich Upper to reach Glasgow.
On 12 October 1969, the passing loop, goods yard and one of the platforms were taken out of use. The platform on the north side was retained, it being located on the same side of the railway as the village. The site of the goods yard is now used as a caravan park.

Signalling

The 1891-built signal box was located off the east end of the Down platform. It had 20 levers. The signal box closed on 12 October 1969 when the crossing loop was removed.
In 1988, the station became a Token Exchange Point in connection with the new Radio Electronic Token Block signalling system.

Services

Six trains in each direction call Mondays to Saturdays, with three departures each way on Sundays all year and an additional one each way in summer only. The latter runs from/to Edinburgh Waverley rather than Glasgow Queen Street.