Galashiels railway station
Galashiels  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Galashiels, Scottish Borders Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 55°37′04″N 2°48′20″W / 55.6178113°N 2.8054719°W | ||||
| Grid reference | NT493361 | ||||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||||
| Manager | ScotRail | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | GAL[1] | ||||
| History | |||||
Original company | Edinburgh and Hawick Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | North British Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | |||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 20 February 1849 | Opened | ||||
| 5 January 1969 | Closed | ||||
| 6 September 2015 | Reopened at a different site | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  37,486 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.187 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.269 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.320 million | ||||
| 2024/25 | 0.309 million | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
Galashiels is a railway station on the Borders Railway, which runs between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank. The station, situated 33 miles 22 chains (53.6 km) south-east of Edinburgh Waverley, serves the town of Galashiels in Scottish Borders, Scotland.[2] It is owned by Network Rail and managed by ScotRail.
History
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The station was opened on 20 February 1849 by the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway,[3] which later became known as the Waverley Route. The line was nicknamed after the popular Waverley Novels, written by Sir Walter Scott.[4][5][6] Upon completion on 1 July 1862, the line ran from Carlisle to Edinburgh Waverley via Hawick, covering a distance of 98+1⁄4 miles (158.1 km).
The station was the interchange point for the Selkirk and Galashiels Railway, which opened on 5 April 1856.[5] Due to poor usage, passenger services were withdrawn without objection from 10 September 1951.[7] The full line was closed, including to goods traffic, in 1966.[8]
The station, along with the line Waverley Route, was closed by British Rail on 5 January 1969.[3]
Following the opening of the Borders Railway on 6 September 2015, the line was extended 30 miles 60 chains (49.5 km) south-east from Newcraighall to Tweedbank. The current station is located slightly to the north of the original.[9]
Facilities
The station is equipped with a ticket machine, live departure screens, a waiting shelter and cycle spaces.[10]
Passenger volume
| 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 213,760 | 346,264 | 356,262 | 360,416 | 328,448 | 37,486 | 186,858 | 268,720 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
Borders Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(including Edinburgh Crossrail) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by an hourly service between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank, with a half-hourly service operating at peak times (Monday to Saturday). Some peak time trains continue to Glenrothes with Thornton. All services are operated by ScotRail.[12]
As of May 2026, services no longer run beyond Edinburgh Waverley. The 2tph service in the peak now runs all day, except Sundays, where the service remains hourly. In the peak hours some services use a pair of Class 170 trains, thus being a 6-car service, although most services are a single class 170. A small number of services are ran by ScotRail's Class 158 2-car units.
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stow | ScotRail Borders Railway |
Tweedbank | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Bowland | North British Railway Waverley Route |
Melrose | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Clovenfords | North British Railway Peebles Railway |
Terminus | ||
| Terminus | North British Railway Selkirk and Galashiels Railway |
Abbotsford Ferry | ||
References
- ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ↑ Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 86. ISBN 978 1909431 26 3.
- 1 2 Quick 2022, p. 201.
- ↑ Caplan (1985), p. 5.
- 1 2 Thomas (1969), p. 96.
- ↑ Thomas (1981), p. 60.
- ↑ John Thomas revised J S Paterson, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 6, Scotland, the Lowlands and the Borders, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1984, ISBN 0 946537 12 7
- ↑ Alistair Nisbet, Willie Gow and the Selkirk Branch, Backtrack Magazine, September 2010, Pendragon Publishing, Easingwold
- ↑ "Borders to Edinburgh railway opens as longest line in UK in a century". BBC News. 6 September 2015.
- ↑ "Galashiels Station". ScotRail. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
- ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ↑ "Train times: Edinburgh – Newcraighall – Tweedbank / Dùn Èideann – Talla na Creige Nuadh – Bruach Thuaidh" (PDF). ScotRail. 16 May 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
Bibliography
- Caplan, Neil (1985). The Waverley Route. Railway World Special. Weybridge: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1541-4.
- Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
- Thomas, John (1969). The North British Railway. Vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4697-0.
- Thomas, John (1981) [1976]. Scotland. Forgotten Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8193-8.
External links
- Train times and station information for Galashiels railway station from National Rail
- Railway stations in the Scottish Borders
- Former North British Railway stations
- Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849
- Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1969
- Beeching closures in Scotland
- Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2015
- Borders Railway
- Railway stations served by ScotRail
- Reopened railway stations in Great Britain
- 1849 establishments in Scotland
- 1969 disestablishments in Scotland
- 2015 establishments in Scotland
- Galashiels