, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Dyce station - geograph.org.uk - 1247183.jpg , caption = Dyce Railway Station , borough =

Dyce Dyce ( gd, Deis) is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, situated on the River Don about northwest of the city centre. It is best known as the location of Aberdeen Airport. History Dyce is the site of an early medieval church dedicated to the 8 ...

Aberdeen City Council gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption ...

, 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 = DYC , years = 20 September 1854 , events = Opened , years1 = 6 May 1968 , events1 = Closed , years2 = 15 September 1984 , 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 ...

Dyce 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 suburb of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

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

Aberdeen to Inverness Line Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, with some trains operating on the

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

and

Glasgow to Aberdeen Line Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population#Localities, most populous City status in the United Kingdom, city in Scotland and the List of cities in the United Kingdom, fourth-most p ...

also extended to call at Dyce and

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography Inverurie is in the vall ...

. It is sited from

, being the first stop north of the station.

History

The station here was opened (along with the line) in 1854 by the

Great North of Scotland Railway The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fr ...

. It later became a junction for the

Formartine and Buchan Railway The Formartine and Buchan Railway was a railway company operating in the north-east of Scotland. It was built to link the important fishing ports of Fraserburgh and Peterhead with Aberdeen. It had a junction with the main line of the Great Nort ...

, which diverged here and headed north to

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

and

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aber ...

; this opened to traffic in 1861 and had its own platforms alongside the main line ones. Passenger services over both branches ended as a result of 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 ...

on 4 October 1965 but the station remained open until 6 May 1968. Freight continued to Peterhead until 1970 and to Fraserburgh until October 1979. There is still evidence on the ground of the old branch platforms which sat on the site of the station

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surfac ...

. The former branch lines are now a long distance

cycle path A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "Class III bikewa ...

, accessible from the western end of the car park. The station was reopened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

on 15 September 1984.

Signalling

Dyce

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 opened in 1880, was a tall structure located at the south (Aberdeen) end of the station, on the east side of the railway. In 1928, the box was provided with a new

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

of 46 levers, subsequently reduced in size to 26 levers. Dyce lost its

semaphore signals Railway semaphore signal is one of the earliest forms of fixed railway signals. This semaphore system involves signals that display their different indications to train drivers by changing the angle of inclination of a pivoted 'arm'. Semaphore ...

in October 2007 when new 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'' ...

were brought into use. The lever frame was removed from the signal box (renamed from "Dyce Junction" to "Dyce") and a new relay

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junction (rail), junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and Track (rail transpor ...

and 'NX' (entrance-exit) panel was installed, initially housed inside a temporary signal box. The signal box was demolished in August 2019 as part of upgrades to the Inverness to Aberdeen line that saw the track between Inverurie and Aberdeen be doubled. The box had been offered for sale but due to its close proximity to a working line, no use could be found for it and nobody wanted to remove the box to another location.

Raiths Farm

A new freight terminal, named "Raiths Farm", has been built to the north of Dyce station, in a field on the west side of the railway. Construction of the terminal was completed in November 2007. The Raiths Farm facility replaced the Guild Street yard at , allowing the latter site, which occupied valuable land close to the city centre, to be redeveloped. The Raiths Farm layout comprises arrival and departure lines to the north and south, a run-round loop and four sidings. The facility began operations in 2009.

Location

Although Dyce station is located next to the runway of

Aberdeen Airport Aberdeen International Airport ( gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Obar Dheathain) is an international airport, located in the Dyce suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. A total of just under 3.1 ...

, and aircraft can be seen landing and taking off from the station platform, there is no direct link between Dyce station and the airport, as the passenger terminal is the other side of the runway.

Facilities

The station has two platforms connected by a new fully accessible footbridge, implemented in 2014. The station is unstaffed and there is no ticket office, but automatic ticket vending machines are provided. Other facilities include car park, taxi rank, cycle storage, seating and a simple shelter on each platform. Automated announcements, customer help points, timetable posters and train information displays offer running information. Both platforms are fully accessible for disabled passengers, with lifts in the footbridge and level access from the main car park to platform 2.

Passenger volume

Dyce is a popular station with airport passengers, business travellers and commuters, both to and from Aberdeen. The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

There is a half hourly service in each direction Mondays to Saturdays to Aberdeen and Inverurie, with eleven of the latter trains continuing to Inverness. Seven Aberdeen trains run through to Edinburgh and one (two on Saturdays) to Glasgow, along with an evening commuter service to . There are nine southbound and eleven northbound departures on Sundays, five of the latter running to Inverness.

2018 Service improvements

Service frequencies were improved here from 2018 as part of a timetable recast 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 ...

. An "Aberdeen Crossrail" commuter service was introduced between Montrose and , which will call here and the other intermediate stations en-route once per hour in each direction. The Aberdeen to Inverurie frequency was upped to every 30 minutes, with several of the existing Inverness trains combined with Aberdeen to Glasgow & Edinburgh express services to maintain through journey opportunities. A £170 million project to upgrade the Aberdeen to Inverness line also saw the track through here redoubled by 2019. The first stage of this work began in May 2018, with trains from the north terminating here and a rail-replacement bus service in operation to/from Aberdeen to allow the required track and signalling improvements to be carried out. The line was closed from 12 May until 19 August 2018. The line was duly redoubled between Aberdeen and Inverurie by the end of 2019.

Connections

Until May 2017 Stagecoach Bluebird's operated a 80 Jet Connect bus shuttle service between Dyce station and Aberdeen Airport, but this service was discontinued due to low passenger numbers. In 2019,

First Aberdeen First AberdeenCompanies House extract company no SC097420

launched its X27 service which connects the railway station to the airport, heliports, and the
P&J Live P&J Live (also known as The Event Complex Aberdeen) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the suburb of Bucksburn, in Aberdeen in Scotland. Opened in August 2019, it offers a capacity for all types of shows and events from 5,000 to 15,000. Replacin ...
. A more frequent bus connection to Dyce airport, the 727, runs from
Aberdeen railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Aberdeen station 01, August 2013.JPG , caption = Concourse at Aberdeen station (2013) , borough = Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid refe ...
, the next stop south of Dyce.

References

External links

Railscot - Dyce
{{authority control Railway stations in Aberdeen Airport railway stations in the United Kingdom Railway stations served by ScotRail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1984 Reopened railway stations in Great Britain Beeching closures in Scotland Former Great North of Scotland Railway stations 1854 establishments in Scotland