Fearn 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 village of

Hill of Fearn Hill of Fearn () is a small village near Tain in Easter Ross, in the Scottish council area of Highland. Geography The village is on the B9165 road, between the A9 trunk road and the smaller hamlet of Fearn to the southeast. The parish church ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

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 ...

, located around from the village. It is situated on the

Far North Line The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-tra ...

, form , between

Tain Tain ( ) is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic n ...

and

Invergordon Invergordon (; or ) is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. History The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area ...

, and is also the nearest station to Balintore, Hilton and Shandwick (the Seaboard Villages),

Portmahomack Portmahomack (; 'Haven of My .e. 'Saint'Colmóc') is a small fishing village in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is situated in the Tarbat Peninsula in the parish of Tarbat. Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is about from the village at the end of the Tar ...

and the Nigg Bay area of

Easter Ross Easter Ross () is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland. The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scotti ...

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 manage the station, operate all services.

History

The station opened on 1 June 1864, as part of the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway, later the

Highland Railway The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating north of Perth railway station, Scotland, Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north o ...

and then 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 ...

Facilities

As well as a small car park, there are bike racks, a bench, a waiting shelter and a help point. The station has step free access. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Platform layout

The railway through Fearn station is single track, the nearest

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 being at to the south and to the west. The station has a single platform which is long enough for a seven-coach train. The platform is very low and this gives rise to difficulties for passengers who are in any way infirm and unable to climb the height to the coaches, and so fixed steps have been built which align with the doors. At the approach to Fearn station, conductors are obliged to use public address systems to warn alighting passengers of the low platform, and they also frequently do this when inspecting tickets of passengers travelling to Fearn.

Passenger volume

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

As of the December 2021 timetable, on weekdays and Saturdays, the stations sees 6 trains northbound (4 to

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

via

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; , ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain. From a latitudinal s ...

, 1 to

, and 1 to Ardgay), and 7 trains southbound 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 ...

. On Sundays, the station sees 4 trains northbound (1 to Wick via Thurso, 3 to Tain) and 4 trains to Inverness.eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 219

References

Bibliography

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External links

Railway stations in Highland (council area) Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1864 Railway stations served by ScotRail Former Highland Railway stations Listed railway stations in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area) {{Highland-railstation-stub