Falkirk Grahamston railway station is one of two

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s serving the town of

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is located on the

Edinburgh to Dunblane Line Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and also 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. Service ...

. Train services are provided by

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), 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 as an operator of las ...

. The "

Highland Chieftain * Sundays, Southbound only The ''Highland Chieftain'' is a named British passenger train operated by London North Eastern Railway. It operates daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Inverness via the East Coast and Highl ...

", the daily

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the Londo ...

service from to and vice versa also calls here. Falkirk is also served by the railway station at . HST Grahamston

History

The line between Polmont and Larbert was built by the Stirlingshire Midland Junction Railway, which was absorbed by the

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 ...

prior to opening. The line opened on 1 October 1850, as did the station known as ''Grahamston (Falkirk)''. The subsequent addition of a chord line at Carmuirs to create a

triangular junction In railroad structures and rail terminology, a wye (like the'' 'Y' ''glyph) or triangular junction (often shortened to just triangle) is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each corner ...

there also gave access to the

Scottish Central Railway The Scottish Central Railway (SCR) 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 All ...

and hence the E&G main line at Greenhill, creating a parallel relief route to the busy E&G line that was often used by local stopping trains between the two cities. It also became the junction for the Grangemouth Railway, when the branch to the port of the same name on the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

was opened in 1860/61 – this line was notable in that it was promoted and built by the

Forth and Clyde Canal The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allow ...

Company rather than any of the local railways, in order to maintain the F&CC's monopoly of the harbour there. The branch was initially worked by the E&G, but when the canal company was subsequently bought out by the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...

, it passed into their hands; thereafter the E&G's successor the

North British Railway The North British Railway was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, ...

had running powers over it. Passenger services there were withdrawn on 29 January 1968 as a result of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

, but the branch is still open for freight to the port and associated

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

and petrochemical plant. The station was renamed ''Falkirk Grahamston'' on 1 February 1903. The original station buildings were replaced by the present ones in 1985/6., in December 2021, it was announced that this station will become a transport hub, under the name Falkirk Central, as it is located in central Falkirk, though not much information has been said since then.

Services

Monday to Saturday there are 4 trains per hour to

Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...

eastbound and 2-3 trains per hour westbound to via

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. Train times to Edinburgh Waverley vary around 34 minutes. There are also 2 trains per hour to and from via , with journey times from 39 minutes to 43 minutes. London Northern Eastern Railway operate one train per day to

, one train per day to

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

and two trains per day to

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...

. Glasgow services were diverted via Cumbernauld (rather than their former routing via ) in September 1999 in order to free up paths on the busy E&G main line. On Sundays there is an hourly service to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Dunblane Dunblane (, ) is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Be ...

but no service to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Passengers wishing to travel there have to either change at or use .

Recent Improvements

The line through the station and onwards to Larbert/Cumbernauld and to Polmont was electrified in 2018 as part of the second phase 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 trains ...

funded by

Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () 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. Transport Scotland, an execut ...

. This has resulted in a timetable recast, with a new Glasgow to Edinburgh via Cumbernauld & Falkirk Grahamston stopping service introduced and services to Edinburgh, Stirling & Dunblane accelerated.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway Railway stations in Falkirk (council area) Former North British Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850 Railway stations served by ScotRail Railway stations served by Caledonian Sleeper Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway Buildings and structures in Falkirk 1850 establishments in Scotland