Barrhill railway station


Barrhill railway station is a railway station serving the village of Barrhill, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and is on the Ayr to Stranraer section of the Glasgow South Western Line, south of Glasgow Central. A passing loop long is located here on what is otherwise a single track route.

History

The station was opened by the Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway on 5 October 1877. The station was briefly closed between 7 February 1882 and 16 February 1882, and between 12 April 1886 and 14 June 1886.
The station features in the novel Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers, first published in 1931.

Services

In 2019, Monday to Saturdays, There is a regular 2 hourly service to both Kilmarnock and Stranraer with a total of 9 trains per day in each direction, 2 trains extend beyond Kilmarnock to Glasgow Central and 4 trains return from there in the early morning, Mid afternoon and late evening, Sundays, On Sundays, There is 5 trains per day to both Stranraer and Ayr only on a 2 hourly frequency.

Temporary closure (August–November 2018)

Ayr's old Station Hotel was found to be structurally unsound, so platforms 3 and 4 at Ayr were closed. This resulted in no trains being allowed to run south of Ayr, as well as ScotRail not being able to access Ayr Townhead depot to the south of Ayr railway station. A minibus operated from the station as the normal replacement buses were unable to reach the station.

November 2018

All Stranraer services are now running, calling at the usual stations but Girvan–Ayr services are still operated by replacement buses.

Signalling

The small signal box that houses the lever frame operating the loop was installed in 1935 after its predecessor was destroyed by fire - it was originally situated further down the line at Portpatrick but dismantled and moved to Barrhill after becoming redundant at its original location. The box only houses the frame however - the tablet instruments and block bells are located in the main station building, which allows one railman to act as both stationmaster and signaller.