, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = 2012 at Paisley Gilmour Street station - main entrance.jpg , caption = Paisley Gilmour Street from County Square , borough = Paisley,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, 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 = , owned =

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

, manager = ScotRail , platforms = 4 , code = PYG , transit_authority = SPT , original =

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 ...

Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway The Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway (GP&GR) was an early Scottish railway, opened in 1841, providing train services between Greenock and Glasgow. At the time the River Clyde was not accessible to sea-going ships, and the intention was to c ...

, pregroup = CR & G&SWR , postgroup = LMS , years = 14 July 1840 , events = Opened: 2 platforms and 2 lines , years1 = 1880 , events1 = Expanded to 4 lines and 4 platforms , 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 ...

, embedded = Paisley Gilmour Street railway station is the largest of the four stations serving the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire,

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 others being Paisley St. James, Paisley Canal and

Hawkhead Hawkhead ( sco, Hauchheid, gd, Ceann an Dail) is an area near Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is on the Hawkhead Burn and White Cart Water, crossed via Hawkhead Bridge. It is near Dykebar, Hunterhill and Blackhall neighbourhood ...

), and acts as the town's principal

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 ...

. The station is managed by ScotRail and serves the

Ayrshire Coast Line The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow. There are three branches, to , and , all running into the high level at . ...

and

Inverclyde Line The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley (Gilmour Street) and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connec ...

, west of . The station is protected as a

category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Ibrox, Paisley & Rothesay Dock(Yoker) RJD 57

The station was opened on 14 July 1840 on the

(GPK&AR). The station was used jointly by the GPK&AR and the

(GP&GR). However, the GP&GR did not run services until March 1841 due to construction difficulties at Bishopton. It was originally built with only two through platforms, with the GPK&R and the GP&GR lines separating to the west of the station. The station was later expanded to four platforms, two for the GPK&R and two for the GP&GR, with the lines separating to the east of the station., has an 1888 photograph of the station with two through platforms; and the two lines separating to the west of the station. The section between

Glasgow Bridge Street railway station Bridge Street railway station, now disused, was the original Glasgow terminus of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway; jointly owned by the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway (GP&G), which later merged with the Caledonian Railway, and th ...

and Paisley Gilmour Street station was a joint line: the

Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway The Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway was the section of railway line between Glasgow Bridge Street railway station and Paisley, in the west of Scotland. It was constructed and operated jointly by two competing railway companies as the stem of ...

Twentieth century

The station was electrified as part of the 1967

platforms (then numbered 1 and 2) were wired, however the wires finished a short distance west of the station. These were extended as part of the Ayrshire Line electrification by British Rail in 1986. This 1986 work coincided with the renumbering of the platforms with the Glasgow bound platforms numbered 1 (Inverclyde) and 3 (Ayrshire), and the outbound platforms numbers 2 (Inverclyde) and 4 (Ayrshire). Following extensive works, Paisley Gilmour Street now has step-free access to all platforms, and the main access onto County Square, has been joined by a re-opened back access onto Back Sneddon Street. The access was originally built along with the station, but had closed and had been converted into a model shop for a number of years. Despite this conversion the shop retained the steps up to stations lower concourse, however it has been bricked up to prevent access. When the shop owner retired, it was decided to purchase the unit and convert it back as part of the step free access works for disabled people, as it would increase space within the station, and the works were fairly simple since the original stairs were retained. After re-opening it was signed as a dedicated exit to the station for those wishing to use the bus link to the airport, as the buses stop directly outside the door and the airport cycle route which passes outside. A collision occurred between two trains at the eastern end of the station on Easter Monday 1979 which resulted in the deaths of seven people.

Operations

Paisley Gilmour Street - First ScotRail 380021

Paisley Gilmour Street is the busiest of the four Paisley stations. It has four platforms, with trains running on the

Inverclyde Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the hist ...

and Ayrshire Coast lines. It is the fourth busiest railway station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central,

Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

, and

Glasgow Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Queen Street railway station (geograph 6687389).jpg , caption = Main entrance in 2020 , borough = Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_positi ...

. Connecting buses from this station also serve nearby

Glasgow Airport gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu , image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg , image-width = 200 , image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg , image2-width = 250 , IATA = GLA , ICAO = EGPF , type = Public , owner = AGS Airports , hub = *easy ...

(GLA) which is approximately 2 km away. It is possible to buy a railway ticket to and from the airport, which includes not only the train journey but also the journey on McGill's 757 service. The

Glasgow Airport Rail Link The Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) is a proposed link between Glasgow City Centre and Glasgow Airport. The original plans for an airport rail link were proposed during the 2000s to directly link Glasgow Central station with Glasgow Airport i ...

would have replaced this bus service with a direct train, but the project was cancelled in September 2009 due to public spending cuts. It is also possible to cycle from the station to the Airport using the Airport Cycle Route. It is an important interchange, not only for the airport bus link, but also for many local buses which depart from the area surrounding the town centre running to destinations throughout the town of Paisley, Renfrew and to the out of town shopping centre,

Braehead Braehead ( sco, Braeheid, Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Ceann a' Bhruthaich'') is a commercial development located at the former site of Braehead Power Station in Renfrew on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrew, Renfrewshire. It is particu ...

. It is expected that Braehead will get a dedicated bus link in the future, possibly utilising Hillington East. The

British Transport Police , nativename = , abbreviation = BTP , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg , logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police , badge = , badgecaption = , f ...

(BTP) maintain a small office here on Platform 1

Services

In the early 1980s up to the electrification of the

the station was served by: * Glasgow - (DMU): 2 trains per hour (some extended to Girvan) * Glasgow - (DMU): 1 train per hour * Glasgow - (EMU): 3 trains per hour * Glasgow - (EMU): 1 train per hour * Glasgow - (DMU): to connect with ferry to Brodick * Glasgow - (Loco hauled): to connect with ferry to Larne

2016

the station is served by: * Glasgow - Ayr (EMU): 2 trains per hour ** 3 trains per day continue from Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs (2 on Saturdays) * Glasgow - Largs (EMU): 1 train per hour * Glasgow - (EMU): 1 train per hour (5 trains per day on Sundays) * Glasgow - Gourock (EMU): 4 trains per hour (1 on Sundays) * Glasgow - Wemyss Bay (EMU): 1 train per hour

Rail & Sea Connections

Northern Ireland

Trains connect Ayr along the

Glasgow South Western Line The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride. History The line was built by several railway compan ...

to Stranraer where a bus link runs, route 350 operated by McLeans (except Sundays) to Cairnryan. for onward ferries to the

Port of Belfast Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...

by Stena Line and Larne Harbour by

P&O Ferries P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferry, ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O ...

. Former connection closed in 2016: along the

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

for the

service to Larne Harbour.

Argyll and Bute

Trains run from Glasgow Central to Wemyss Bay station, connecting with Caledonian MacBrayne's service to

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

on the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...

and to Gourock, connecting with

Argyll Ferries Argyll Ferries Ltd was a ferry company formed in January 2011 by the Scottish Governments department of Transport Scotland via the parent company David MacBrayne Ltd to tender for the Dunoon-to-Gourock public service route. Argyll Ferries were ...

' service to

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As wel ...

and various Caledonian MacBrayne emergency relief routes

Isle of Arran

Trains also connect along the

Ardrossan Harbour , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Ardrossan Harbour railway station.jpg , borough = Ardrossan, North Ayrshire , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_nam ...

for the

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne ( gd, Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn), usually shortened to CalMac, is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west ...

service to

Brodick Brodick ( , gd, Tràigh a' Chaisteil ("Castle Beach") or ''Breadhaig'') is the main village on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It is halfway along the east coast of the island, in Brodick Bay below Goat Fell, the tallest ...

References

Notes

Sources

* * * *

External links

Video footage of Paisley Gilmour Street
{{Railway stations served by Abellio Scotrail Railway stations in Renfrewshire Former Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 SPT railway stations Railway stations served by ScotRail Transport in Paisley, Renfrewshire Listed railway stations in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Renfrewshire Buildings and structures in Paisley, Renfrewshire 1840 establishments in Scotland