The Ayr to Mauchline Branch was a railway line in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and ran services between

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

and

Mauchline Mauchline (; gd, Maghlinn) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial. Location The town lies by the Glasgow and South West ...

as part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway.

History

The line between

and

opened on 1 September 1870 to regular passenger services.Stansfield, page 4 The line was extended south from Annbank through

Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found in ...

Cronberry Cronberry is a small hamlet situated north-east of Cumnock and one mile north-east of Lugar, in East Ayrshire, Scotland. History Cronberry has a Women's Rural Institute which meets in the old school. Diane and Holly Fallon were murdered at Cr ...

on 1 July 1872.Stansfield, page 13 A line was also opened from Ochiltree to Holehouse Junction allowing services access to and from the

Ayr and Dalmellington Railway The Ayr and Dalmellington Railway was a railway company in Scotland, which connected the growing ironworks community around Dalmellington with Ayr, in Ayrshire, Scotland. Its route was originally planned by the ''Ayrshire and Galloway Railway'' ...

. The section between Annbank and

closed to regular passenger services on 4 January 1943, with the remaining line between Ayr and Cronberry closing on 10 September 1951, with freight services continuing at most stations until 1964. The connecting line between Ochiltree and Holehouse had already closed to passengers on 3 May 1950. The Ayr to Mauchline line occasionally saw special passenger service use until May 1975. This line continued to be used for freight until 1983. Today the line between Ayr and Mauchline still exists and is active after being reopened to freight traffic in March 1988.ScotRail Freight Boost ''

Rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

'' issue 80 May 1988 page 5 The line running south from Annbank is now cut back to Drongan, where the line that once served the Killoch Colliery now serves the Killoch Washery on the same site.

Context

The context of the development of this route is discussed in the article

Cross-country lines of the Glasgow and South Western Railway The Glasgow and South Western Railway operated a number of cross-country lines in Ayrshire. Introduction The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (GPK&AR) opened its line from Glasgow to Ayr in 1839 - 1840, extending to Kilmarnock in 184 ...

Connections to other lines

* Former

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 ...

at Ayr, Cronberry and Mauchline * Former

at Holehouse and Ayr

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayr To Mauchline Branch Pre-grouping British railway companies Closed railway lines in Scotland Early Scottish railway companies Glasgow and South Western Railway Beeching closures in Scotland Railway lines opened in 1870