Aberdeen–Inverness line
Trains passing at Nairn station in 2013
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleAberdeenshire
Highland
Termini
  • Inverness
  • Aberdeen
Stations12
Service
SystemNational Rail
Operator(s)ScotRail
Rolling stockClass 158 "Express Sprinter", Class 170 "Turbostar" and Class 43 "HST"
History
Opened1854-1858
Technical
Line length108 miles 21 chains (174.2 km)
Number of tracksMixture of Single and double track
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed75 mph (120 km/h) maximum
Route map

(Click to expand)

The Aberdeen–Inverness line is a railway line in Scotland linking Aberdeen and Inverness. It is not electrified. Most of the line is single-track, other than passing places and longer double-track sections between Insch and Kennethmont and Inverurie and Berryden Junction (Aberdeen).

History

The line was built in three parts:

A Highland Railway 'Clan Goods' locomotive at Forres

The first two parts of the line merged to form the Highland Railway. The Highland Railway operated the line from Inverness to Keith with the Great North operating the line from there to Aberdeen. The Highland was grouped with other railways into the London Midland and Scottish Railway and the Great North was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway by the Railways Act 1921, before eventually becoming part of British Railways in 1948.

Since 1948

Many intermediate stations and connecting branch lines were closed to both passenger and goods traffic at various dates during the 1950s and 1960s. The 1963 Reshaping of British Railways report recommended the closure of Inverurie and Insch stations, but these remain open. In 1968, the route was singled.[1]

Dyce railway station was reopened in 1984.

The railway bridge over the A96 road south of Nairn was replaced in 1991. A new steel-span bridge was constructed adjacent to the existing stone arched bridge. The new bridge was opened in July 1991. This eliminated a bottleneck on the A96 where lights allowed only one direction of traffic at a time under the narrow bridge.[2][3][4]

In 2009, a new freight interchange at Dyce, known as Raith's Farm, was opened.[5]

In 2017, the line through Forres was straightened and a new station built, reinstating the second platform and extending the passing loop there. The platforms at Elgin were extended, the passing loop extended from 650 metres to 1.25 km, and a turnback facility was added. In addition to this, there were signalling improvements: control of the line between Inverness and Keith was transferred to the Highland signalling centre in Inverness.[1]

In 2019, redoubling work between Aberdeen and Inverurie was completed, though a 1.5 km section north of Aberdeen railway station remains single-track. Much of this is in tunnels, which would have required track lowering to support two tracks. The same year, Dyce and Inverurie signal boxes were closed, with control between Kittybrewster to Insch also transferred to the Highland signalling centre. The platforms at Insch railway station were also extended.[1]

Kintore railway station was reopened in October 2020.[6] Inverness Airport railway station (close to the site of the former Dalcross railway station) opened in February 2023.

Current services

Aberdeen–
Inverness line
Up arrow
Kyle of Lochalsh line
& Far North Line
Rose Street Junction
Welsh's Bridge Junction
 Inverness
Millburn Junction
Left arrow
Highland Main Line
to Perth
 Inverness Airport Inverness Airport
 Nairn
 Forres
(1858–2017)
 Forres
 Elgin
Left arrow
Keith & Dufftown Railway
to Dufftown
 Keith
Huntly
 Insch
 Inverurie
 Kintore
 Dyce Aberdeen Airport
 Aberdeen NorthLink Ferries
Down arrow
Glasgow–Aberdeen line &
Edinburgh–Aberdeen line

All passenger services are operated by ScotRail. There is some limited freight traffic, with Elgin retaining a goods yard, whilst Keith, Huntly and Inverurie retain smaller, less frequently used goods yards. Raith's Farm freight yard at Dyce serves Aberdeen.

In addition to through services, local services operate at each end of the line. An hourly service operates between Elgin and Inverness, while a half-hourly service operates between Inverurie and Aberdeen. Approximately one train per hour continues to Montrose, creating an hourly stopping service between Inverurie and Montrose.[1]

The line serves the following stations:

Station Grid reference Notes
Aberdeen NJ941058 Connection with the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line, Glasgow to Aberdeen Line, Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston and NorthLink Ferries to Orkney and Shetland.
Dyce NJ884128 Formerly served Aberdeen Airport, the bus connection has now been withdrawn.
Kintore NJ789170 Opened 15 October 2020
Inverurie NJ775218
Insch NJ629275
Huntly NJ535396
Keith NJ429516 Connection with the preserved Keith and Dufftown Railway
Elgin NJ218621
Forres NJ029589
Nairn NH881560
Inverness Airport NH770511 Opened 3 February 2023
Inverness NH667454 Connections with the Highland Main Line, the Far North Line and, via Dingwall on the Far North Line, the Kyle of Lochalsh Line. Connection with the Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston.

Future

There are currently plans to extend some of the services and increase the frequency of trains between Inverurie and Aberdeen. This will be part of the Aberdeen Crossrail project. Transport Scotland is also funding an infrastructure improvement project on the route between 2015 and 2030.[7][8][9]

Once this work is completed, the line will support an hourly service with a two-hour journey time stopping at all stations between Aberdeen and Inverness.[1]

In the Scottish Government's National Transport Strategy, published in February 2020, it was stated that the line between Aberdeen and Inverurie would be electrified with overhead lines by 2035. The remainder of the route will also be electrified but at a later date.[10]

Reference outside Scotland

There is a residence hall at the University of California, Riverside that is named after the Aberdeen-Inverness rail line. The Aberdeen-Inverness Residence Hall was the first residence hall at the university and is still in operation today. Originally, Aberdeen, A and B wings, was all male. Inverness, D and E wings, was all female. By the early 1970s, the twin residences became fully coeducational.[11]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Finishing the job – redoubling Aberdeen to Inverurie | Rail Engineer". 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "A96 blackspot gets £1.8m summer facelift". The Press and Journal. 5 April 1990. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "Nairn bridge prepared for a track at dawn". The Press and Journal. 15 July 1991. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "Bottleneck bridge at Nairn is on way out". The Press and Journal. 16 February 1991. p. 35.
  5. ↑ Raiths Farm at Railscot Retrieved 2010-03-15
  6. ↑ "Aberdeenshire railway station reopens 56 years after closure". Evening Express. 15 October 2020. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Improvement Project, Scotland"Railway-technology.com article; Retrieved 19 August 2016
  8. ↑ "Aberdeen to Inverness rail improvements". www.transport.gov.scot. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Aberdeen – Inverness Improvements – Network Rail". www.networkrail.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Shirres, David. "Decarbonising Scotland's Railway". Rail Engineer. No. 190. pp. 46–53. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Aberdeen-Inverness". housing.ucr.edu. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
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