Aberdeen railway station

For other railway stations in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, see Railway stations of Aberdeen. For other railways stations named Aberdeen, see Aberdeen station (disambiguation).

Aberdeen railway station is the main railway station in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the busiest railway station in Scotland north of the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is located on Guild Street in the city centre, next to Union Square.

Aberdeen Scottish Gaelic: Obar Dheathain^[1]
Aberdeen Station in 2022
General information
Location	Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen Scotland
Coordinates	57°08′37″N 2°05′55″W / 57.1436°N 2.0985°W / 57.1436; -2.0985
Grid reference	NJ941058
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	6 (numbered 2–7)
Other information
Station code	ABD^[2]
History
Original company	Denburn Valley Line
Key dates
4 November 1867	Station opened as Aberdeen Joint to replace Aberdeen Guild Street and Aberdeen Waterloo^[3]
1913–1916	Rebuilt
1952	Renamed Aberdeen^[3]
2007–2008	Major refurbishment
2020-2022	Major redevelopment
Passengers
2018/19	2.616 million
Interchange	0.258 million
2019/20	2.497 million
Interchange	0.237 million
2020/21	0.394 million
Interchange	27,863
2021/22	1.537 million
Interchange	0.125 million
2022/23	1.961 million
Interchange	0.179 million
Listed Building – Category A
Official name	Guild Street Aberdeen Railway Station and Road Overbridge
Designated	2 March 1990
Reference no.	LB20673^[4]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is managed by ScotRail. Inter-city, regional, local and sleeper train services are provided to all parts of Great Britain by ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, CrossCountry and London North Eastern Railway. The station is the northern terminus of the Dundee–Aberdeen line and the southern terminus of the Aberdeen–Inverness line, and is measured 241 miles 6 chains (388.0 km) from Carlisle via Perth.^[5]

History

 

A 1913 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Aberdeen (present station shown here as JOINT PASS. STA.)

Pre-nationalisation

The station currently standing was built and opened in 1867, although the station today has been significantly redeveloped from the original.^[6] The station and the new Denburn Valley Line enabled the main line from the south and the commuter line from Deeside to connect with the line from the north. The lines from the south had previously terminated at the adjacent Aberdeen Guild Street. Even this had not been Aberdeen's first railway station, that distinction belonging to a previous terminus a short way south at Ferryhill.^[6]

Prior to the construction of the Joint Station, lines from the north had terminated at Aberdeen Waterloo, a short but inconvenient distance along the edge of the harbour. This too became a goods station after the construction of the Joint Station.^[7]

Nationalisation and privatisation

 

The entrance to the station, seen in 2006, before redevelopment as part of Union Square. The Station Hotel can be seen in the background.

As a result of the grouping of railway companies under the Railways Act 1921, Aberdeen was shared by the London and North Eastern Railway and the London Midland and Scottish Railway, each company running the station for a year and then handing its administration to the other company. At nationalisation in 1948, it then became part of British Rail. As part of the changes during this period which saw a general contraction of railway services in the UK, some services were cut in the 1960s. These included those running north to Peterhead and Ellon as well as the Deeside Line. Suburban services were heavily reduced and the grand suburban ticket office, located on the corner of Guild Street and Bridge Street, was closed. It now houses a hair and beauty salon. The number of platforms at the station were also reduced considerably in the early 1970s, from the thirteen of the late 1950s/early 1960s down to just seven by 1973.^[8] This rationalisation process saw the removal of all of the north end bay platforms to allow for redevelopment of that part of the site. However, significant improvements under British Rail included introduction of InterCity 125 high-speed service to London and other major destinations, and introduction of other new rolling stock. Other improvements included a new Travel Centre opened in 1978 and under British Rail's regional brand ScotRail, a major station renovation was completed in the 1980s. The station was also resignalled around this time, with two more bay platforms (1 & 2) taken out of use along with the former through platforms 8 & 9. This left just five platforms (3–7) in regular use – the layout that remains in operation to this day. The two former bay platforms remain in place and are used as sidings. The former double track through platforms 8 and 9 has since been singled, but the platform faces remain.

At privatisation in the mid-1990s, ownership of the station passed to Railtrack (along with all stations and other infrastructure in England, Wales and Scotland), while day-to-day management passed to the train-operating franchisee ScotRail, a division of National Express. Following the quasi-nationalisation of railway infrastructure in the early 2000s, the station is now owned by Network Rail. In 2004, the train-operating franchise and station management were taken over by First ScotRail. ScotRail continue to operate trains but the station and all signage is now branded with the "ScotRail" logo, typeface and rolling-stock livery.

Motorail

British Rail's Motorail service ran between London and Aberdeen from 1968^[9] until Friday 26 May 1995.^[10]

Plans to reintroduce a Motorail service between London and Aberdeen operated by Motorail Ltd were announced December 1998^[11] and confirmed in March 1999.^[12]

 

Signage at Aberdeen station in May 2012, showing National Rail double-arrow logo

Listed building

Historic Environment Scotland designate the current building and road overbridge as Category A, noting that it was the last major station to be completed in Scotland in the period 1913 - 20.^[4]

Recent developments

Plans to relocate the ticket office and passenger waiting room, as well as upgrades to the taxi rank and concourse, were approved by Aberdeen City Council in December 2018, with work due to start in spring 2019.^[13] Under a separate scheme, the vacant Atholl House building to the north of the station is to be demolished, making way for the construction of a public square, hotel and student accommodation, and improved connections between the city's main Union Street and the station.^[14] This development could allow the currently disused platforms 8 and 9 to be brought back into service.^[15]

As of early 2019, the station's glass roof is undergoing replacement with polycarbonate panels as part of a £9 million upgrade.^[16] In June 2020, ScotRail announced that it would proceed with the modifications to the ticket office, waiting room, and taxi rank as soon as it was safe to do so following the coronavirus pandemic. There are no plans to reinstate the platforms yet.^[17] These developments were completed by the end of 2021.^[18]

In March 2021, it was confirmed that further work would be undertaken to improve the passenger experience in the station, including significant improvement in retail facilities, improvements to the taxi rank area and better connectivity with Union Square and the wider Aberdeen City Centre.^[19]

The North Corner Pavilion Building, which had fallen into disrepair, was restored as part of the station redevelopment in December 2021. Repairs were sympathetic and in keeping with the original features of the category A-listed building.^[20] The restoration was recognised in the 2022 National Railway Heritage Awards, where it won The Arch Company Award for Urban Heritage Award.^[21]

By December 2022, all improvement works were completed. Both the ticket office and first class lounge were relocated to allow for further retail space. Modern glazed frontage was added to the units. Four new customer information screens were installed as part of renovation works, along with improvements to staff accommodation. Jenny Gilruth, the then Transport Minister opened the redeveloped station on 5 December 2022. The redevelopment was funded by the Scottish Government, ScotRail, Network Rail, the Railway Heritage Trust, and Serco^[22]

Facilities

v t e Railway stations around Aberdeen
Legend
Great North of Scotland Rly       Don Street (GNoSR)       Kittybrewster Junction (DVL) Kittybrewster (new)         Kittybrewster (old) (GNoSR) (DVL) Hutcheon Street       Waterloo (GNoSR)         Victoria Basin: North (HTT)         Victoria Basin: South (HTT)       Deeside Goods (HTT) (DVL) Schoolhill         Guild Street (AR) (DVL) Aberdeen Joint             Deeside Goods Branch Junction Goods Branch Junction     (DVL) Aberdeen Ferryhill   Ferryhill Junction         (DR) Holburn Street         River Dee Deeside Railway               Aberdeen Railway
Railways
AR Aberdeen Railway (CR) DR Deeside Railway (GNoSR) DVL Denburn Valley Line (GNoSR) GNoSR Great North of Scotland Railway HTT Harbour Trustee Tramways (Aberdeen)

 

Concourse at Aberdeen station (2011)

There is a staffed travel centre providing ticket office and information facilities (e.g. timetables). There are also automatic ticket machines outside this office and in the main concourse. Tickets purchased in advance (e.g. on the internet) can be collected from any of these machines. The entrance to the ScotRail first-class lounge is located inside the ticket office (travel centre). Luggage trolleys are provided for travellers with baggage and a left-luggage facility is available with access from the front forecourt of the station. There is step-free access to all platforms from the bridge. There are also two sets of toilets near the main entrance, as well as payphones and an excess fares office.^[23]

A waiting room is available on the main concourse, as is a branch of WHSmith selling books, magazines, stationery and confectionery. There is also a pub and café. A wide range of other shopping and eating facilities are located in the Union Square complex which can be accessed directly through the concourse and is integrated with the station building.^[24]

Passenger volume

The main origin or destination station for journeys to or from Aberdeen in the 2022–23 period was Edinburgh, making up 216,214 of the 1,961,414 journeys (13.3%).^[25]

Passenger Volume at Aberdeen^[25]

	2002–03	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23
Entries and exits	1,761,041	1,931,973	2,107,855	2,278,872	2,470,281	2,568,810	2,657,014	2,964,302	3,170,464	3,338,072	3,599,431	3,742,646	3,459,944	3,058,268	2,948,150	2,616,142	2,497,108	393,982	1,536,720	1,961,414
Interchanges	–^[nb 1]	187,983	201,417	230,788	119,259	162,526	164,299	148,594	197,040	200,864	219,085	219,002	204,139	192,344	179,958	258,416	237,220	27,863	124,666	179,272

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

All scheduled services are operated by diesel-powered rolling stock. The services from Aberdeen for the May 2022 timetable are:^[26]

ScotRail

 

A First ScotRail service at Aberdeen, formed of a Class 170 Turbostar unit

• 1tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Dundee
• 1tph to Glasgow Queen Street via Dundee, Perth and Stirling (Scotland)
• 1tp2h to Inverness via Keith and Elgin
• 2tph "Aberdeen Crossrail" services to Inverurie calling at all intermediate stations (introduced December 2019)
• 1tph "Aberdeen Crossrail" service from Inverurie to Montrose calling at all intermediate stations (introduced December 2019)

Caledonian Sleeper

• 1tpd to London Euston calling at Preston and Crewe.

CrossCountry

• 1tpd to Plymouth, along the Cross Country Route
• 1tpd to Edinburgh Waverley via Dundee and Haymarket.

London North Eastern Railway

• 3tpd to London King's Cross via Dundee, Edinburgh Waverley, Newcastle and York.
• 1tpd to Leeds via Dundee, Edinburgh Waverley, Newcastle and York.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Stonehaven or Dundee		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		Terminus
Portlethen		ScotRail Dundee–Aberdeen line		Terminus
Terminus		ScotRail Aberdeen to Inverness Line		Dyce
Portlethen To Montrose		ScotRail Aberdeen Crossrail		Dyce To Inverurie
Stonehaven		Caledonian Sleeper Caledonian Sleeper		Terminus
Stonehaven		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Terminus
	Ferry services
Terminus		NorthLink Ferries Shetland ferry service		Lerwick
Terminus		NorthLink Ferries Orkney ferry service		Kirkwall
	Historical railways
Terminus		Caledonian Railway Aberdeen Railway		Cove Bay Line open; Station closed
Terminus		Great North of Scotland Railway Deeside Railway		Holburn Street Line partly open; Station closed
Terminus		GNoSR / CR Joint Denburn Valley Line		Schoolhill Line open; Station closed

Connections

Buses

Regional and national bus services (including the Jet 727 to Aberdeen Airport) depart from Aberdeen bus station, which is located on the other side of the adjoining Union Square shopping centre.^[27]

Ferries

Aberdeen railway station offers interchange with Aberdeen ferry terminal, which lies approximately 450 metres (0.28 mi) away, the departure point for ferry services operated by NorthLink Ferries to the Orkney and Shetland Islands.^[28]

See also

• Aberdeen Ferryhill TMD

Notes

1. No data available.

References

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
3. Butt (1995), page 12
4. Historic Environment Scotland. "GUILD STREET ABERDEEN RAILWAY STATION AND ROAD OVERBRIDGE (Category A Listed Building) (LB20673)". Retrieved 1 April 2019.
5. 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. 96. ISBN 978-1-909431-26-3.
6. Quick 2022, p. 42.
7. Butt 1995, p. 12.
8. "Aberdeen – End of the Great North End" McIntrye, John; Railscot article January 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2014
9. British Rail Motorail Service 1968. [[British Rail]. 1967.
10. Marglotta, Cheryl (27 May 1995). "Anger and sadness as Motorail bites dust". Aberdeen Press and Journal. p. 9.
11. "Wraps come off plans for Motorail". Aberdeen Evening Express. 29 December 1998. p. 9.
12. "Launch of new Motorail service". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 29 March 1999. p. 10.
13. Merson, Adele. "Aberdeen Railway Station revamp plans approved". Evening Express. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
14. Morrice, Emma. "Plans to demolish 'eyesore' building in Aberdeen city centre approved". Evening Express. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
15. Andy McLaren. "Two disused platforms at Aberdeen train station could reopen". Evening Express. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
16. "£9m Aberdeen station investment is first glass news". Network Rail. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
17. "£8m Aberdeen station redevelopment". www.railtechnologymagazine.com. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
18. "Next phase of Aberdeen railway station redevelopment begins". RailAdvent. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
19. ScotRail (19 March 2021). "ScotRail unveils next phase of Aberdeen station redevelopment". scotrail.co.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
20. ScotRail (1 December 2021). "ScotRail restores historic Aberdeen landmark". Retrieved 14 July 2023.
21. ScotRail (6 December 2022). "Aberdeen station restoration project celebrates success at National Railway Heritage Awards". Retrieved 14 July 2023.
22. ScotRail (5 December 2022). "Transport Minister marks official opening of Aberdeen railway station redevelopment". Retrieved 14 July 2023.
23. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
24. Marshall, Geoff; Pipe, Vicki (2018). The Railway Adventures: Places, Trains, People and Stations. September Publishing. ISBN 978-1-910463-87-1.
25. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
26. eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 214
27. "Aberdeen Bus Station". The Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
28. "Aberdeen Station Bus and Cycle Routes" (PDF). National Rail. Retrieved 27 April 2023.

Bibliography

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Quick, Michael (2022). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aberdeen railway station.

• Train times and station information for Aberdeen railway station from National Rail