, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Invergordon railway station 2017, 7243.jpg , borough =

Invergordon Invergordon (; gd, Inbhir Ghòrdain or ) is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. History The town built up around the harbour which was establish ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, 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 ...

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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 = IGD , original =

Inverness and Ross-shire Railway The Inverness and Ross-shire Railway was a Scottish railway company formed in 1860 to build a line from Inverness to Invergordon. It opened in 1862 as far as Dingwall and in 1863 to Invergordon. It was extended to a Bonar Bridge station in 186 ...

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Highland Railway The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller United Kingdom, British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station, Scotland, Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Base ...

, postgroup = LMSR , years = 28 July 1874 , events = Opened , 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 ...

Invergordon 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

on the

Cromarty Firth The Cromarty Firth (; gd, Caolas Chrombaidh ; literally "kyles /nowiki>straits.html"_;"title="strait.html"_;"title="/nowiki>strait">/nowiki>straits">strait.html"_;"title="/nowiki>strait">/nowiki>straitsof_Cromarty.html" ;"title="strait">/no ...

, in the

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act. ...

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 ...

. It is located on the

Far North Line The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-trac ...

, from , between

Alness Alness (, ; gd, Alanais) is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It lies near the mouth of the River Averon, near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon 3 miles (5 km) to the east, an ...

and Fearn.

, who manage the station, operate all services.

History

The station opened on 28 July 1874, as part of the

, later the

and then the

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 ...

. As of 2011 the buildings are not in use. In 2008/2009, the station underwent a brightening-up programme run by the Invergordon "Off The Wall" group.

Accidents and incidents

On 26 November 1944,

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

DD851 of the No. 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit departed

, RAF Alness on an anti-submarine patrol of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

off the coast of

. During the initial climb a connecting rod on the starboard inner engine broke, the engine caught fire and fell off. The Sunderland, with a full load of fuel and depth charges then crashed into the railway line northeast of Invergordon railway station where all 11 of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

(RCAF) crew were killed. The crew are buried in the Stonefall Air Force Cemetery in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

Facilities

Both platforms have a help point and benches, whilst only platform 2 has a shelter (passengers on platform 1 have to use the old station buildings for shelter). There is a car park and bike racks adjacent to platform 1. Both platforms have multiple entries, all with step-free access. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Location

The station is located at the south end of Invergordon's High Street and is easily accessible from all areas of Invergordon, the closest area being the densely populated area of South Lodge. Northbound, leaving the station, the track snakes under a one-way road bridge and runs alongside Park Primary School until turning into single track; it then runs through the Invergordon distillery and Inverbreakie housing estate. It then enters the woods.

Platform layout

The station consists of two side platforms, which can each accommodate an eight-coach train, flanking 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 on the predominantly single-track line from to and .

Passenger volume

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

The station has seen a number of timetable improvements since 2008, with the addition of an extra through train each way to/from

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

on weekdays and further shorter distance services to/from

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

aimed at the commuter market (these mainly run as far as or ). Prior to this, 3 departures in each direction was the standard service on the line for many years. In the December 2021 timetable, the station sees 6 services northbound on weekdays (4 to Wick via

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great ...

, 1 to Ardgay, 1 to Tain) and 4 northbound on Sundays (1 to Wick, 3 to Tain). On weekdays and Saturdays, there are 9 services southbound to Inverness, with 5 on Sundays.eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 219

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Invergordon Railway Station Railway stations in Highland (council area) Railway stations served by ScotRail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874 Former Highland Railway stations Invergordon