Kilmarnock railway viaduct, known locally as ''The Viaduct'', is a

railway viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

crossing the town centre of

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, and was constructed between 1843 and 1850. The bridge begins at

Kilmarnock railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = File:Kilmarnock Railway Station 2016.jpg , caption = Main entrance to Kilmarnock railway station, showing the upgraded station clock to the right , ...

and leads to destinations in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is a most distinctive feature of the town centre with 23 masonry arches and defines the northern boundary of the town centre. It was built in the 1840s to enable the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

–

line to continue to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. The structure is a Category B listed building and is owned by Historic Environment Scotland.

History

The 23 arch railway viaduct was designed by John Miller and

Thomas Grainger Thomas Grainger FRSE (12 November 1794 – 25 July 1852) was a Scottish civil engineer and surveyor. He was joint partner with John Miller in the prominent engineering firm of Grainger & Miller. Life Grainger was born at Gogar Green near Ra ...

for the

Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) was a railway in Scotland that provided train services between Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Ayr. It opened its first line, between Glasgow and Ayr, in stages from 1839 to 1840. The section b ...

and built over the period 1843 to 1850. It enabled the railway to extend south towards

for connections to other locations in

. The viaduct begins at

and continues over the Kilmarnock Water, leading to the south end of Kay Park. In 2008, the viaduct had blue uplighters installed (matching the colour of the local football team

Kilmarnock F.C. Kilmarnock Football Club, commonly known as Killie, is a Scottish professional football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. The team is currently managed by Derek McInnes, who was appointed in January 2022. The club has achieve ...

), and in 2019, a £213,000 upgrade with multi-coloured LEDs took place. This allowed for the circuits to be controlled above the ground and were wired in parallel, which allows individual lamps to be replaced when necessary.

Incidents and accidents

In April 2012, the bridge's safety had to be upgraded after a man was seriously injured after jumping 40 ft from the top of the railway viaduct. In February 2021, a stabbing occurred at the viaduct when a 24-year-old female was stabbed in Portland Street. The viaduct and surrounding area was cornered off by

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

officers with forensic detectives carrying out investigations of the scene, with the area remaining closed to the public into the following day.

References

External links

* Railway bridges in Scotland Buildings and structures in Kilmarnock Category B listed buildings in East Ayrshire Listed bridges in Scotland Viaducts in Scotland {{Scotland-rail-transport-stub