Aviemore railway station
Railway station in Highland, Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aviemore railway station serves the town and tourist resort of Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. The station, which is owned by Network Rail (NR) and managed by ScotRail, is on the Highland Main Line, 83 miles 31 chains (134.2 kilometres) from Perth, between Kingussie and Carrbridge, and is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey preserved railway.[5]
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aviemore railway station in 2018 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Aviemore, Highland Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 57.1886°N 3.8288°W | ||||
| Grid reference | NH895123 | ||||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||||
| Manager | ScotRail | ||||
| Platforms | 3 (2 National Rail, 1 Strathspey Railway) | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | AVM[2] | ||||
| History | |||||
Original company | Inverness & Perth Junction Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Highland Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | LMS | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 3 August 1863 | Station opened[3] | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  25,492 | ||||
| Interchange | 8 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  92,240 | ||||
| Interchange | 147 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.112 million | ||||
| Interchange | 69 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.130 million | ||||
| Interchange | 79 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 0.124 million | ||||
| Interchange | 60 | ||||
Listed Building – Category A | |||||
| Designated | 18 August 1986 | ||||
| Reference no. | LB257[4] | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
History
The station was opened by the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway (I&PJR) on 3 August 1863,[3] to designs by the engineer William Roberts,[6] when the "direct" line to Inverness via Slochd was built,[7] making Aviemore an important junction.
In 1917 Aviemore was connected to the narrow gauge Aviemore and Coylumbridge Timber Railway. This line closed in 1921.[8]
The original I&PJR line to Forres fell victim to the Beeching cuts, closing to passengers in October 1965.[9]
In 1998 the station was restored and refurbished, and the Strathspey Railway was allowed to use the island platform.[10] Following the moving of services, the Strathspey Railway closed their Aviemore (Speyside) railway station.
Accidents and incidents
On 29 September 2023, 60103 Flying Scotsman collided with stationary carriages at 6:05pm. Two people were injured.[11][12]
Facilities
The new building on the northbound platform of the main line comprises a ticket hall, booking office and shop, and the three original buildings are waiting rooms (with historical displays), staff offices, and toilets. Parking is on the station's west side, and passenger access to the Strathspey part of the station is via a foot-crossing across the junction spur. This foot crossing also provides disabled access to platform 2.[13] As there are no ticket machines, if the ticket office is closed, passengers must buy one in advance.
Platform layout
The station has a passing loop 40 chains (800 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the down (northbound) line can accommodate trains having fourteen coaches, whereas platform 2 on the up (southbound) line can hold fifteen.[14] The junction between the Strathspey Railway and Network Rail lies to the south of the station and was controlled from the station signal box, which also controlled a large portion of the main line either side of here (from Kingussie all the way to Culloden Moor since 1979) as well as the immediate station area.[15] The station was resignalled and the loop extended in 2019, which also saw the signal box closed with control transferring to Inverness.[16]
Passenger volume
| 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 80,977 | 91,456 | 101,294 | 115,431 | 121,090 | 124,972 | 132,336 | 132,052 | 136,456 | 141,311 | 150,724 | 152,082 | 145,200 | 147,964 | 138,490 | 132,618 | 25,492 | 92,240 | 112,090 | 130,090 | 123,654 |
| Interchanges | 36 | 58 | 45 | 113 | 86 | 72 | 72 | 14 | 59 | 82 | 37 | 56 | 50 | 44 | 52 | 177 | 8 | 147 | 69 | 79 | 60 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
Services are provided by ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, and London North Eastern Railway on the Highland Main Line, and Strathspey Railway on the former Inverness & Perth Junction Railway to Boat of Garten and Broomhill.
In the May 2026 timetable, there are six trains each weekday to both Edinburgh Waverley (including the Highland Chieftain to London King's Cross) and Glasgow Queen Street southbound, plus the overnight sleeper to London Euston, six nights per week. Northbound there are twelve departures to Inverness. On Sundays there are five trains to Edinburgh (including the King's Cross service) and two to Glasgow, along with seven to Inverness, two of which extend to Elgin.[18]
| Preceding station |  National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingussie | ScotRail Highland Main Line |
Carrbridge or Inverness | ||
| Kingussie | London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line |
Carrbridge or Inverness | ||
| Kingussie | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper |
Carrbridge or Inverness | ||
| Preceding station |  Heritage railways |
Following station | ||
| Terminus | Strathspey Railway | Boat of Garten towards Broomhill | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Kincraig Line open; station closed |
Highland Railway Inverness & Perth Junction Railway  |
Boat of Garten Line and station open | ||
| Highland Railway Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway |
Carrbridge Line and station open | |||
Future proposals
This station is planned to benefit from a package of timetable enhancements introduced by Transport Scotland and Scotrail. The current Perth to Inverness timetable will increase to hourly each way, with trains south of there running on alternate hours to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Journey times will be reduced by 10 minutes to both cities.[19] As of May 2026, this has still not taken place.[18]
