, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Spean Bridge railway station - looking towards Roy Bridge.JPG , borough =

Spean Bridge Spean Bridge ( gd, Drochaid an Aonachain) is a village in the parish of Kilmonivaig, in Lochaber in the Highland region of Scotland. The village takes its name from the Highbridge over the River Spean on General Wade's military road between ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, 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 = , manager = ScotRail , platforms = 2 , code = SBR , years = 7 August 1894 , events = Opened , years1 = 22 July 1903 , events1 = Services to Fort Augustus commenced , years2 = 1 December 1933 , events2 = Passenger service to Fort Augustus withdrawn , mpassengers = , footnotes = Passenger statistics from the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 = Spean Bridge railway station is a

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 prep ...

serving the village of

in the

region of

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 ...

. This station is on the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( gd, Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean - "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the ...

, between Roy Bridge and Fort William, sited from

Craigendoran Craigendoran (Gaelic: ) is a suburb at the eastern end of Helensburgh in Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Clyde. The name is from the Gaelic for "the rock of the otter". It is served by Craigendoran railway station. Craigendoran pi ...

Junction, near

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local gove ...

. ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, along with

Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom, the other b ...

History

The station opened on 7 August 1894 and was laid out with two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There were sidings on the north side of the station. The station buildings were designed by James Miller. Between 1903 and December 1933, there was a branch line from this station which offered service north up the

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...

Fort Augustus Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism. History The Gaeli ...

, terminating at a pier on

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claim ...

. The North British railway extended Spean Bridge adding a bay platform at the west end at a cost of £303 0s 5d () to accommodate Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway trains. The signalling instruments were moved from the I&FA box at the junction to the booking office at the insistence of the Board of Trade inspector. The I&FA line was not successful. Passenger services stopped in 1933 and the line was eventually abandoned completely in 1947. The station was host to a

LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...

camping coach Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...

from 1936 to 1939. A camping coach was also positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1961 until all camping coaches in the region were withdrawn at the end of the 1969 season.

Signalling

From the time of its opening in 1894, the West Highland Railway was worked throughout by the electric token system. Alterations in connection with the construction of the line to

saw the original Spean Bridge signal box replaced by two new boxes in 1901. Spean Bridge Junction box was subsidiary to Spean Bridge Station box. The Junction box closed on 20 September 1921. The most recent signal box at Spean Bridge, which opened on 28 August 1949, was located on the Up platform (which is now the Down platform). It contained 30 levers. Spean Bridge lost all its semaphore signals on 2 March 1986, in preparation for

Radio Electronic Token Block Radio Electronic Token Block is a system of railway signalling used in the United Kingdom. It is a development of the physical token system for controlling traffic on single lines. The system is slightly similar to North American Direct Traffic ...

(RETB) signalling. The RETB system was commissioned by British Rail between and

Fort William Junction , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Fort William Station.JPG , borough = Fort William, Highland , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid ...

on 29 May 1988. This resulted in the closure of Spean Bridge signal box and others on that part of the line. The RETB is controlled from a Signalling Centre at

Banavie railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Banavie Station (geograph 5324117).jpg , caption = The platform at Banavie with Ben Nevis's peak covered in cloud and snow. , borough = B ...

. The

Train Protection & Warning System The Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) is a train protection system used throughout the British passenger main-line railway network, and in Victoria, Australia. The British Rail Safety and Standards Board's definition is: The purpose of TP ...

was installed in 2003.

Facilities

The station buildings are on platform 1, which passengers can use for shelter, whilst platform 2 only has a rudimentary glass structure. The help point is on platform 1, and the car park and bike racks are also adjacent to this platform. Both platforms have step-free access. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

Mondays to Saturdays, the station is served by three ScotRail trains per day in each direction, northbound to and southbound to , along with the Highland Caledonian Sleeper between

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...

and via

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 ...

(the latter doesn't run southbound on Saturday nights or northbound on Sunday mornings). Sundays see two trains per day call each way, as well as the southbound sleeper. The sleeper also carries seated coaches and thus can be used by regular travellers to/from Glasgow Queen Street (Low Level) and Edinburgh.eNRT May 2022 Edition, Table 220

References

External links

Video and commentary on Spean Bridge railway station
{{Railway stations served by Caledonian Sleeper Railway stations in Highland (council area) Former North British Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1894 Railway stations served by ScotRail Railway stations served by Caledonian Sleeper Category C listed buildings in Highland (council area) James Miller railway stations Listed railway stations in Scotland