Timeline of the station's history

There have been several railway stations in Newburgh, Fife. The original was opened in 1848 by the Edinburgh and Northern Railway

Edinburgh and Northern Railway

The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a Scottish railway company. It was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1845. It operated services between Burntisland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, Perth and Tayport, with a junction at Ladybank...

. The line through the station was from Ladybank to Perth. This station lasted until August 1906, when the newer station was opened.

Newburgh became a junction station on 25 January 1909, when the Newburgh and North Fife Railway

Newburgh and North Fife Railway

The Newburgh and North Fife Railway was a railway in Fife, Scotland that provided services between and Newburgh. The line is closed.- History :The railway was incorporated on 6 August 1897. The line opened on 25 January 1909...

 company opened a line from Newburgh to Dundee. This route called at Lindores

Lindores

Lindores is a small village in Fife, Scotland, about 2 miles south-east of Newburgh. It is situated on the north-east shore of Lindores Loch, a 44 ha freshwater loch. A possible derivation of the name Lindores is 'church by the water'...

, Luthrie, and Kilmany

Kilmany

Kilmany is a village in Fife in Scotland.It is notable for being the birthplace of Jim Clark, former world champion Formula One racing-car driver. There is a statue of Clark in the village, unveiled in 1997 by Sir Jackie Stewart....

, and was an attempt to provide a competitive service between Perth and Dundee via the south of the River Tay. The route diverged at a triangle junction just south of St Fort. This alternative route to Dundee from Perth was not, however, a great success, as journey times were considerably longer.

In July 1933, the line from Newburgh to Bridge of Earn

Bridge of Earn

Bridge of Earn is a small town in Perthshire, Scotland.Often referred to simply as 'The Brig' by its inhabitants...

 was converted to single track

Single track (rail)

A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....

. By this time, the station was in ownership by the London and North Eastern Railway. The station's history continued mainly uneventfully until 10 February 1951, when the station closed to passengers, but remained open for goods purposes. Also in February 1951, the Newburgh (Glenburnie Junction) to St Fort line also closed to passenger services.

On 13 May 1960, Newburgh (Glenburnie Junction) to Lindores closed completely, and Newburgh to Glenburnie Junction was singled, leaving a single line route between Ladybank and Perth. St Fort to Lindores remained open for freight until October 1964. Newburgh station loop remained intact, however, and in December 1971 was signalled for bi-directional working. This loop and the, by then, decaying Newburgh sidings were both removed in October 1980.

From October 1975, British Rail routed some passenger workings via the Newburgh line on a regular basis, although not calling at the intermediate stations. This was possibly an attempt to ease congestion on the Perth - Edinburgh via Stirling route, as well as to provide connections between Perth and Edinburgh without the need to change trains.

Today, the station lies derelict, the platform and building still intact, although gutted of all furnishings. It has been suggested many times that the station should be re-opened, along with Abernethy and Bridge of Earn, as these places have slowly been developing over the past 25 years. The line from Ladybank to Perth forms part of the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line

Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line

The Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line is a railway line linking Edinburgh with Aberdeen via the Forth Bridge, the Tay Bridge and Dundee. Also it serves as an extension to the East Coast Main Line and the Cross Country Route...

.

For now, though, the train service is replaced permanently by a bus, and to operate stopping services on the line may require loops in certain places (possibly even redoubling, as the line is already heavily used by Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

 / Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

 - services. Occasionally, freight, London-bound trains and the Caledonian Sleeper

Caledonian Sleeper

The Caledonian Sleeper is a sleeper train service operated by First ScotRail and one of only two remaining sleeper services running on the railways of Great Britain, the other being the Night Riviera....

services use this line if the route via Stirling is closed for maintenance. A few railtours have also been known to traverse the Newburgh line.

External links

• Railscot