Dumfries railway station

Dumfries
265px
Location
Place	Dumfries
Local authority	Dumfries and Galloway
Coordinates
Grid reference	NX976765
Operations
Station code	DMF
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.334 million
2005/06	0.356 million
2006/07	0.345 million
2007/08	0.338 million
2008/09	0.343 million
2009/10	0.347 million
2010/11	0.360 million
2011/12	0.374 million
2012/13	0.366 million
2013/14	0.369 million
History
1848	Opened
1850	Line to Glasgow opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Dumfries from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Dumfries railway station serves the town of Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the Glasgow South Western Line and is managed by Abellio ScotRail who provide nearly all passenger train services. It is staffed on a part-time basis throughout the week.

History

Opened by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway in 1848, the line serving it was extended northwards to Kilmarnock and Glasgow two years later (the GD&CR became part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway at the same time). It subsequently became the junction for branches to Castle Douglas and Stranraer (opened between 1859 and 1861), Lockerbie (opened in 1863 and taken over in 1865 by the Caledonian Railway) and latterly to Moniaive (Cairn Valley Railway, opened in 1905). All of these later lines have now closed (the Port Road to Stranraer being the last to go in June 1965), leaving only the original G&SWR main line open to serve the town. The Beeching Axe cutting the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway and Portpatrick Railway has resulted in adverse mileage to connect Stranraer with a longer line via Kilmarnock and Ayr. The journey by railway and ferry via Stranraer to Larne Habour or since the line closed to the Port of Belfast is much longer.

Carnation built a condensed milk factory in Dumfries that opened in 1935, eventually constructing three units producing tin cans, condensed milk and latterly Coffeemate. The original factory had private siding access to the station's good yard, which gave access for milk trains to the facility, in both delivering raw product as well as distribution to London. Milk trains stopped in the mid-1970s. The US-parent company was bought by Nestle in 1985, after which a decline in the facility began. CoffeeMate production ceased in 2000, after which the site was fully redeveloped as an industrial estate.

Services

The service from the station is somewhat irregular - currently there is roughly one train per hour to Carlisle for most of the day (with some extra trains on Saturdays) and one every two hours to Kilmarnock and Glasgow Central. Five southbound trains continue to Newcastle via the Tyne Valley Line, but the two through northbound services that formerly ran to Ayr and Stranraer no longer operate (having been withdrawn at the December 2009 timetable change).

Northern Rail provides two daily services to Newcastle.

Sundays see five services to Carlisle and two to Glasgow (two trains from Carlisle also terminate here).

Racks, Ruthwell and Cummertrees stations once existed between Dumfries and Annan.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Annan		Abellio ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line		Sanquhar

Gallery

1960

• Dumfries railway station 2064451 4f127e3a.jpg

  The station in 1960

• 

  The station pilot at the rear of a Down express in 1960

2009

• Dumfries station north.JPG

  Looking north with the site of the old Port Road line bay platforms to the left

• Dumfries station, south.JPG

  Looking south towards Annan with the site of the old goods station beyond the road bridge

External links

• RailScot - Glasgow, Dumfries & Carlisle Railway
• Video of the Dumfries Incredible Edible Group's station gardens project.