The Dundee–Aberdeen line is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

linking Dundee and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

in Scotland.

History

The present line was built by three companies. The first section to open was the line from Dundee to Arbroath in 1838, constructed by the Dundee and Arbroath Railway. From 1849 to 1850 the Aberdeen Railway opened the line between Montrose and Aberdeen. The North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway opened the line between Arbroath and Montrose in 1883.

Route and line

The line runs from south to north and generally runs along the east coast, though it heads inland between Montrose and

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

. The line is double-track apart from a single-track section south of Montrose, which includes the

South Esk Viaduct The North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway was a company established by Act of Parliament in 1871 to construct and operate a railway line from north of Arbroath via Montrose to Kinnaber Junction, south of Aberdeen. The company was origi ...

. Plans to dual this section were announced in 2008 and again in 2016. It is not electrified. At its northern terminus, Aberdeen railway station, the line meets the Aberdeen–Inverness line. At its southern terminus, Dundee railway station, the line meets the Dundee–Glasgow line (via

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

) and the Dundee–Edinburgh line. The five stations between Carnoustie and Dundee are close together and once had a regular stopping service, but this stopped in 1990. Since then, they have only had an infrequent parliamentary service. An approximately hourly service for Broughty Ferry and Monifieth was restored with the December 2018 timetable change.

Stations

Incidents

On 28 December 1906, a severe blizzard caused 22 deaths and 24 injuries after two trains collided with each other between Carnoustie and Arbroath. For more information, see

Elliot Junction rail accident The Elliot Junction rail accident occurred on 28 December 1906 at Elliot Junction in Forfarshire (now Angus), Scotland. An express hit the rear of a local passenger train, which was just moving off from the station, killing 22 and injuring 24. T ...

. The Stonehaven derailment occurred on 12 August 2020 which killed three people and required the line to remain closed between Stonehaven and Laurencekirk until 3 November. This section was closed again after a bridge parapet collapsed on 15 January 2021. It is expected to reopen on 22 February.

Future

In the Scottish Government's National Transport Strategy, published in February 2020, it was stated that the line would be electrified with

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...

by 2035.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundee-Aberdeen line Railway lines in Scotland