Girvan railway station is a

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 ...

serving the town of

Girvan Girvan (, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, and north of St ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

, Scotland. The station is managed 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 ...

, who operate all passenger services from there. It is on the Ayr to Stranraer section of the Glasgow South Western Line and is situated south of . It has two platforms and is the location of one of the five

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 o ...

s on the single track line between ''Dalrymple Junction'' (south of Ayr) and Stranraer. Immediately south of the station, the line climbs steeply towards Pinmore tunnel – the climb is known as the ''Glendoune Bank'' and has a

ruling gradient In railroading, the ruling grade is steepest grade on the rail line between two locations. Climbing the steepest part of the line dictates the minimum motive power needed, or how light the train must be, in order for the run to be made without ...

of 1 in 54.

History

The station was opened on 5 October 1877 by the Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway and was known as Girvan New,Butt, page 103 replacing the Girvan (Old) terminus station of the Maybole and Girvan Railway situated nearby. The station closed on 7 February 1882, reopened 1 August 1883, closed 12 April 1886, reopened 18 June 1886, closed again 2 September 1886, reopened 14 July 1890, and was renamed Girvan on 1 April 1893 after rebuilding by the

Glasgow and South Western Railway The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was the third biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle, Cumbria, Ca ...

, who had taken over the G&PJR the previous year. From 1906–1942, it also served as the southern terminus of the Maidens and Dunure Light Railway. The main station building caught fire in January 1946 and because 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 London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

(LMS) were not disposed to finance the rebuilding costs as nationalisation was imminent, rebuilding did not commence until 1949. Owing to shortage of materials it was not completed until August 1951, when based on a typical 1930s LMS design it was re-opened. Along with the

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

, it is a category B listed structure as an example of an early post-war railway station in the Moderne style in Scotland. The station clock restored in 2009 is believed to be from the original station building. The station is part of the South West Scotland Community Rail Partnership which comprises local Community Councils, representation from South Ayrshire Council, ScotRail as well as private individuals. SWSCRP has adopted the station and has provided tubs, shrubs and plants. These are tended to by the Girvan Make it Happen Group. SWSCRP also have their community shop and an office on site. The station was the rail head for the 2009 UK Open Golf Championships.

Services 2025

All trains on the to

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

route call, along with several to/from Ayr and beyond start or terminate here.

April 2025

On Monday to Saturday, there is a typically hourly service northbound to/from Ayr with some 2 hour gaps, 6 of these trains continue to Kilmarnock with 1 also continuing to Glasgow Central. Southbound, There is 5 trains per day southbound to Stranraer which operate every to an irregular 2 or 4 hour frequency. On Sundays, there are 5 trains a day each way to both Ayr and Stranraer but no services to Kilmarnock or Glasgow.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Girvan Railway Station
{{Railway stations served by Abellio Scotrail Railway stations in South Ayrshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1877 SPT railway stations Railway stations served by ScotRail Category B listed buildings in South Ayrshire Former Glasgow and South Western Railway stations Girvan