, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Blair_Atholl_station.jpg , caption = General view, looking south , borough =

Blair Atholl Blair Atholl (from the Scottish Gaelic: ''Blàr Athall'', originally ''Blàr Ath Fhodla'') is a village in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the Gr ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...

, country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name =

Grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

, grid_position = , manager =

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise a ...

, platforms = 2 , code = BLA , years = 9 September 1863 , events = Opened as ''Blair Athole'' , years1 = 1872 , events1 = Possibly renamed to ''Blair Athol'' , years2 = 1893 or 1894 , events2 = Renamed to ''Blair Atholl'' , mpassengers = , footnotes = Passenger statistics from the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

Blair Atholl railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

serving the town of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The station is managed by

and is on the

Highland Main Line The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edi ...

, from , between

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotla ...

and

Dalwhinnie Dalwhinnie ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Dail Chuinnidh'' "meeting place") is a small village in the Scottish Highlands. Dalwhinnie is located at the head of Glen Truim and the north-east end of Loch Ericht, on the western edge of the Cairngorms Natio ...

. There is a crossover at the north end of the station to allow trains to turn back if the line south to Pitlochry is closed.

History

The station was opened by the

Inverness and Perth Junction Railway The Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (I&PJR) was a railway company that built a line providing a more direct route between Inverness and the south for passengers and goods. Up to the time of its opening, the only route was a circuitous way th ...

on 9 September 1863. One of the first visitors to the station was

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

who arrived in a Royal Train on 15 September 1863 on a visit to

Blair Castle Blair Castle (in Scottish Gaelic: Caisteil Bhlàir) stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray, and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl, ...

to see

George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl George Augustus Frederick John Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl, (20 September 1814 – 16 January 1864) was a Scottish peer, important landowner, and freemason. Life Born at Great Cumberland Place, Westminster, Murray was the son of James Murray, ...

who was very ill. For its first thirty years until 1893, the station was named 'Blair Athole'; the present B-listed station was renamed to its current name in the 1890s. It originally had a 770-yards long passing loop which was flanked by the two platforms but this has since been extended northbound as double track as far as .

Facilities

There are benches on both platforms, with a waiting shelter on platform 2 and natural shelter from the station buildings on platform 1, with a small car park and bike racks adjacent to the latter. As well as the footbridge between the platforms, there is also step-free access to both platforms (from the car park to platform 1 and from the level crossing to platform 2). As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Platform layout

The station has a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

long, with two platforms. Platform 1 on the southbound line can accommodate trains having seven coaches, whereas platform 2 on the northbound line can hold eleven. Beyond here the line is double track as far as .

Passenger volume

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

As of the May 2022 timetable, on weekdays and Saturdays there are 5 trains per day northbound (all going to Inverness), and 6 trains per day southbound (three to

Glasgow Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Queen Street railway station (geograph 6687389).jpg , caption = Main entrance in 2020 , borough = Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_positi ...

, two to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and the southbound

Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom, the other b ...

, picking up only, weekdays only). A reduced service operates on Sundays, with 3 trains per day to Inverness (1 of which extends to Elgin), and 2 trains to Glasgow and 2 trains to Edinburgh, including the

Highland Chieftain The ''Highland Chieftain'' is a named British passenger train operated by London North Eastern Railway. It operates daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Inverness via the East Coast and Highland Main Line. It is one of the ...

London Kings Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...

, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper.eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 213

References

Bibliography

External links

Video footage of the station on YouTube
{{Railway stations served by Caledonian Sleeper Railway stations in Perth and Kinross Former Highland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations served by ScotRail Railway stations served by Caledonian Sleeper Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway