, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Cumbernauld Station 3.jpg
, caption = Cumbernauld railway station (northbound platform)
, borough =
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...
,
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
, 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 = CUB
, zone = S6/S8
, transit_authority =
SPT
, original =
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
, pregroup =
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
, postgroup =
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
, years = 7 August 1848
, events = Opened
, years1 = August 1849
, events1 = Closed
, years2 = April 1870
, events2 = Reopened
, 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 ...
Cumbernauld railway station serves the town of
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...
,
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
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
is managed by
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 ...
and is located on the
Cumbernauld Line
The Cumbernauld Line is a suburban railway line linking Glasgow to Falkirk via Cumbernauld in Scotland. Since May 2014, the newly electrified track between Springburn and Cumbernauld has become an extension of the North Clyde network.
Servi ...
, north east of
Glasgow Queen Street (High Level) station and the
Motherwell to Cumbernauld Line
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na MÃ thar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
, north of . Trains serving the station are operated by ScotRail.
The patronage at Cumbernauld station does not compare well with that of stations in similar towns such as , possibly due to the awkward position on the southeastern periphery of the town, around a 20-minute walk from the
town centre
A town centre is the commerce, commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train ...
.
Other
residential areas
A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
(including
Westfield and
Balloch) are closer to , while
Condorrat
Condorrat is a former village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Like Luggiebank, Castlecary and Dullatur, it predates the new town of Cumbernauld, but unlike those Condorrat was officially included in the designated new town area. Since then it has ...
and
Greenfaulds
Greenfaulds ( gd, A' Bhuaile Ghlas, IPA: ™ËˆvuÉ™ləˈɣɫ̪as̪ is an area of the town of Cumbernauld in Scotland. Greenfaulds was a half council half private estate built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The main road through the estate is a ri ...
are served by
Greenfaulds railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Greenfaulds railway station in 2007.jpg
, borough = Greenfaulds, North Lanarkshire
, country = Scotland
, coordinates =
, grid ...
. Some areas like the
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
or
Abronhill
Abronhill () is an area in the north-east of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It extends from Cumbernauld Town Centre. Abronhill was planned with its own shopping centre and has three primary schools, along with several churches. Abronhi ...
are not within reasonable walking distance of a station, although Abronhill is close to the line, which has recently been electrified.
History
![Caley main line](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Caley_main_line.gif)
The station was built by the
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
and opened on 7 August 1848 on their line from Gartsherrie (on the former
Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway
The Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway was an early railway built primarily to carry coal to Glasgow and other markets from the Monkland coalfields, shortening the journey and bypassing the monopolistic charges of the Monkland Canal; passenger traffic ...
) to Greenhill on the
Scottish Central Railway
The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary.
The line opened in 1848 including a branch to South Alloa. The ...
. The line gave the Caledonian access to central & north eastern Scotland from Glasgow and its main line from , but the station at Cumbernauld wasn't a commercial success as the
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
it served wasn't particularly large; and so it closed after just one year of operation. It was eventually reopened in 1870 to be served by local passenger services from
Glasgow Buchanan Street on the lines toward Falkirk &
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
.
When planning the
new town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in the 1950s, there was some consideration made to siting the town centre near the current railway station rather than on the hill top. The railway station in this scheme would then have been moved to the
Luggie and Shank valley near the
A73, beyond
Lenziemill
Lenziemill is the site one of Cumbernauld's several industrial estates, built as satellite developments on the periphery of the Scottish town's residential areas.
Toponymy
The etymology of the name is uncertain but may distinguish the mill her ...
and
Blairlinn
Blairlinn is the site of one of Cumbernauld's several industrial estates built as satellite developments on the periphery of the Scottish town's residential areas.
Toponymy
The etymology of the name is probably 'Pool, or mill-dam, plain’ ( ...
.
However, it wasn't until the after the building of the new town started that the area's population began to expand significantly, and usage of the station increased. This also ensured that the station avoided the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
in the early 1960s, even though (as noted) it wasn't particularly well sited for many of the newly built residential developments.
The line did though lose its direct link with the city after the closure to passengers of the Buchanan Street terminus in November 1966. The diversion of all main line expresses and the remaining local routes into Queen Street left the station without any trains serving it, and so a replacement service had to be introduced. This consisted of a
DMU shuttle along the old main line into Glasgow, which was still operational as far as the works at
St Rollox
ST, St, or St. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Stanza, in poetry
* Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band
* Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise
* Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...
; however, just east of there they were re-routed onto the former
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and ...
's Sighthill Branch to Cowlairs, which they used as far as . Trains terminated there, with passengers having to change onto
North Clyde Line
The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail Trains. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgat ...
electric services over the former
City of Glasgow Union Railway
The City of Glasgow Union Railway - City Union Line, also known as the ''Tron Line'', was a railway company founded in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1864 to build a line connecting the railway systems north and south of the River Clyde, and to build a c ...
branch to and Queen Street Low Level.
Regular local services southwards towards and had also ceased by this time, although a limited number of longer distance trains continued to call there - notably the
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
to ''Clansman'' & ''Royal Highlander'' expresses from the early 1970s onwards.
Through running to Queen Street High Level was eventually introduced in 1989, and since then several intermediate local stations along the line have reopened with backing from the
Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) is a regional transport partnership for the Strathclyde area of western Scotland. It is responsible for planning and coordinating regional transport, especially the public transport system in the are ...
. Services both northwards to (September 1999) and southwards to Motherwell (May 1996) have also been reintroduced, whilst the opening of the Cowlairs Chord in 1993 meant that services could now proceed directly to Queen Street without having to reverse alongside the depot at Eastfield as before. The lines to Glasgow & Coatbridge have been electrified (as part of the
Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme
The Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme or EGIP was an initiative funded by Transport Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government to increase capacity on the main railway line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with new, longer electric train ...
), with electric operation beginning in the spring of 2014. This has seen service frequencies on the Glasgow line increased to three per hour, and through running on electric services to the west end of Glasgow via the
North Clyde Line
The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail Trains. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgat ...
through Queen Street Low Level. The station building is also undergoing major refurbishment as part of this work, with a new modular structure opened in July that year.
Further electrification northwards to Greenhill Junction is due for completion in 2018 (as part of the next phase of the EGIP), which will coincide with a further planned timetable recast that will see the existing service to Falkirk doubled to two trains per hour and extended through to
Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...
via . This will see the town given direct links to the Scottish capital for the first time, as well as upping the Glasgow Queen Street service frequency to four trains per hour. The timetable upgrade & infrastructure work is being funded by
Transport Scotland
Transport Scotland ( gd, Còmhdhail Alba) is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government.
Organisat ...
.
Services
2017
Off-Peak Monday to Saturday:
*2tph to Dumbarton Central via Springburn and Glasgow Queen Street low level.
*1tph to Glasgow Queen Street high level.
*1tph to Falkirk Grahamston.
*1tph to Dalmuir via Motherwell and Glasgow Central Low Level
On Sundays there is an hourly service to Partick via Springburn and Glasgow Queen Street low level.
[GB National Rail Timetable May–December 2016, Table 226 (Network Rail)]
2018/19
From December 2018, a new half hourly Glasgow - Edinburgh via Cumbernauld and Falkirk Grahamston service will start, replacing the hourly DMU service and take over the existing EMU service between Springburn and Cumbernauld. The new service will use new
Class 385
The British Rail Class 385 ''AT200'' is a type of electric multiple unit built by Hitachi Rail for Abellio ScotRail. A total of 70 units have been built, divided into 46 three-car and 24 four-car sets. Based on the design of the Hitachi A-train, ...
EMUs. The service between Cumbernauld and Dalmuir via Motherwell and Glasgow Central will continue to operate with existing stock.
The typical Monday - Saturday service will be:
* 2tph to Edinburgh via Falkirk Grahamston
* 2tph to Glasgow Queen Street High Level
* 1tph to Dalmuir via Motherwell and Glasgow Central Low Level
Signalling
Cumbernauld
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, which had 35 levers, was located to the north of the station, on the east side of the line. Latterly it worked by
Absolute Block
Absolute block signalling is a British signalling scheme designed to ensure the safe operation of a railway by allowing only one train to occupy a defined section of track (block) at a time. This system is used on double or multiple lines wher ...
to Greenfoot S.B. and by Track Circuit Block to Greenhill Junction S.B. Its primary function was to operate the crossover and
reversing siding
Reverse or reversing may refer to:
Arts and media
*Reverse (Eldritch album), ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001
*Reverse (2009 film), ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film
*Reverse (2019 film), ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian c ...
used by services that terminated & started back from here. This is still in use today.
Cumbernauld signal box closed on 3 May 1999, when the line was resignalled with colour light
signals
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
controlled from Cowlairs Signalling Centre.
Gallery
File:Cumbernauld Station 2.jpg, Cumbernauld station Platform 1 (Glasgow Queen Street and Motherwell bound services)
File:Cumbernauld Station.jpg, Cumbernauld station Platform 2 (Falkirk bound services)
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
External links
Railscot - Cumbernauld
{{Railway stations served by Abellio Scotrail
Railway stations in North Lanarkshire
SPT railway stations
Railway stations served by ScotRail
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1849
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1870
Former Caledonian Railway stations
Cumbernauld
1848 establishments in Scotland