Ayr railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Ayr
code = AYR

---

caption = Looking south, terminal platforms 1 & 2 to the right, through platforms 3 & 4 on the left.
manager = First ScotRail
locale = Ayr
borough = South Ayrshire
pte = SPT
latitude = 55.4583
longitude = -4.6258
gridref = NS340214
platforms = 4
usage0203 = 1.154
usage0405 = 1.257
usage0506 = 1.366
usage0607 = 1.417
years = 12 January 1886
events = Opened

Ayr railway station serves the town of Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is situated in Smith Street, off Burns Statue Square. The station, which is managed by First ScotRail, is on the Ayrshire Coast Line convert|41.5|mi|km south-west of Glasgow Central railway station.

History

The station was opened on 12 January 1886 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway.Butt, p. 22] This was the third station to be named 'Ayr' in the town: the original station, located on the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway, opened in 1839. When the Ayr and Dalmellington Railway was opened in 1856, a station called Ayr Townhead was opened on the south side of the town. When the original Ayr station was closed on 1 July 1857, Townhead station was renamed 'Ayr', however this second station closed the same day the current station opened. The current station was built just 300 yds south of the previous station.

Station description

Ayr station consists of two through platforms, and two bay platforms to the north.Hume, p. 46] The northbound platform station building is located on the ground floor of the four-storey hotel attached to the station, and the southbound platform has a large single storey sandstone building. The glazed canopy that covers a small section of all four platforms and the waiting area was originally much larger than its current size.

The station has one of eight remaining ticket offices on the Ayr to Glasgow Central line, the others being Prestwick Town, Troon, Irvine, Kilwinning, Johnstone, Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Central. In December 2006 the station received automatic ticket barriers as part of the First ScotRail's revenue protection policy. [cite web|title=First ScotRail: Automatic ticket gates|url=http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/ticketgates/]

Hotel

The hotel attached to the station was originally opened by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in June 1866; and it become part of the British Transport Hotels (BTH) at Nationalisation.Carter (1990). Appendix 1.] It was sold by BTH in October 1951; and has changed ownership a number of times, having been owned by Stakis Hotels, Quality, and presently Swallow Hotels.

The Station Hotel is currently the oldest and most famous hotel in Ayr. The hotel has retained almost all of its original features inside and out.

Services

Past

Ayr used to have a daily London Euston service which ran to/from Stranraer via Barassie to the Glasgow South Western Line, which was dropped in the mid 1980s. In the 1980s the "Royal Scot" started from Ayr. Following completion of the Ayrline electrification the train operated in push-pull mode with Class 87 or 90. In the early 1990s with the restruction of British Railways the train ceased to start from Ayr.

Present

There are trains from Ayr to Glasgow Central every half hour daily, except for Sundays during the winter timetable (Oct-May), when the frequency is hourly. This service is one of the busiest on the rail network in Scotland and can suffer from serious overcrowding at peak times. To alleviate this, in June 2005 First ScotRail extended the length of trains departing Ayr between 0643 and 1813 on weekdays to six cars wherever possible. The expansion of low-cost carrier Ryanair from Glasgow Prestwick Airport is the main reason behind the soaring passenger numbers on the Glasgow - Ayr route.fact|date=April 2008

There are also less frequent services from Ayr to Girvan, Stranraer, Kilmarnock and Newcastle in England.

rail line
next = Newton-on-Ayr
route = First ScotRail

"'Ayrshire Coast Line
col = FF80C0rail line
previous = Maybole
next = Prestwick Town
route = First ScotRail

"'Glasgow South Western Line
col = FF80C0rail line
previous = Alloway
"Line and station closed
next = "Connection with A&DR
at Alloway Junction
route = Glasgow and South Western Railway

"'Maidens and Dunure Railway
col = G&SW colourrail line
next = Newton-on-Ayr
"Line and station open
previous = Maybole Junction
"Line open; station closed
route = Glasgow and South Western Railway

"'Ayr and Dalmellington Railway
col = G&SW colourrail line
previous = "Connection with A&DR
at Hawkhill Junction
next = Auchincruive
"Line open; station closed
route = Glasgow and South Western Railway

"'Ayr to Mauchline Branch
col = G&SW colour
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References

Notes

ources

*
*
*