Breich railway station
Breich  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Breich |
| Local authority | West Lothian |
| Coordinates | 55°49′39″N 3°40′03″W / 55.8275°N 3.6675°WCoordinates: 55°49′39″N 3°40′03″W / 55.8275°N 3.6675°W |
| Grid reference | NS956606 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | BRC |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2010/11 |
 68 |
| 2011/12 |
 90 |
| 2012/13 |
102 |
| 2013/14 |
64 |
| 2014/15 |
92 |
| History | |
| 9 July 1869 | Opened[1] |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Breich from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Breich railway station is a rural railway station serving the village of Breich in West Lothian, Scotland. It is located on the Shotts Line, 21 miles (34 km) west of Edinburgh Waverley towards Glasgow Central. It is currently the sixth least used station in the UK and the second least used in Scotland, after Barry Links.[2]
History
The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on their Cleland and Midcalder Line on 9 July 1869.[1] Breich is named after the nearby Breich Water.[3] The station pre-dates the present day (2015) village of Breich and OS maps show that it has never possessed freight facilities such as loading docks and sidings, etc.[3]
The area although now very rural was once highly industrialised with several collieries, lime works, iron workings, etc. nearby, together with the Levenseat Branch of the North British Railway and the originally 4ft 6in Scotch gauge Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness line with its old terminus station of Longridge[3] opened in 1845 and closed in 1848.[4]
A ticket office and waiting room was still present in 1962 as shown by the photograph of that date, together with a linesman's brick hut building, both on the Glasgow bound platform.
The final section of the platforms running towards Edinburgh are slightly higher, have larger edging stones and a different construction suggesting that they were built at a different date than the rest of the platforms.
The station gardens have an unusual diversity of planted shrubs and trees.
Services
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addiewell | Abellio ScotRail Shotts Line |
Fauldhouse | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Addiewell Line and station closed |
Caledonian Railway Cleland and Midcalder Line |
Fauldhouse | ||
| Newpark Loop line and station closed |
Caledonian Railway Cleland and Midcalder Line Addiewell Loop |
|||
2011
Monday Saturdays saw one train a to Edinburgh and two towards Glasgow Central with no Sunday service.
2016
Monday to Saturdays the station is served by one eastbound towards Edinburgh and one westbound train towards Glasgow Central per day. There is no Sunday service.[5]
Station usage
In 2014-15, Breich was the tenth least-used station in Britain, with 92 passenger exits and entries.[6]
West Lothian Council's Route Utilisation Strategy suggests that if there was an increase in service frequency on the Shotts Line more services could stop at Breich. This could help future developments in the Breich and Longridge areas.[7]
References
Notes
- 1 2 Butt (1995), page 43
- ↑ http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0018/15363/station-usage-2013-14-data.xls
- 1 2 3 Linlithgowshire Sheet XII.SW (includes: West Calder; Whitburn). Publication date: 1898. Date revised: 1895.
- ↑ Butt (1995), page 149
- ↑ Table 224 National Rail timetable, May 2016
- ↑ "Revealed: Britain's busiest and quietest stations". BBC News. 15 December 2015.
- ↑ Route Utilisation Strategy – Draft for Consultation – Network Rail
Sources
- Butt, R. V. J. (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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
- 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 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687.
- Yonge, John (May 1987). Gerald Jacobs, ed. British Rail Track Diagams - Book 1: ScotRail (1st ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Company. ISBN 0-9006-0948-6.
- Yonge, John (February 1993). Gerald Jacobs, ed. Railway Track Diagams - Book 1: Scotland and the Isle of Man (2nd ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Company. ISBN 0-9006-0995-8.
- Yonge, John (April 1996). Gerald Jacobs, ed. Railway Track Diagams - Book 1: Scotland and the Isle of Man (3rd ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Company. ISBN 1-8983-1919-7.
- Yonge, John (2007). Gerald Jacobs, ed. Railway Track Diagams - Book 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (Quail Track Plans) (fifth ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps (formerly Quail Map Co). ISBN 978-0-9549866-3-6. OCLC 79435248.
External links
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