Paisley Gilmour Street railway station

Paisley Gilmour Street railway station is one of four stations serving the town of Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

, Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

(Gilmour Street, St. James, Paisley Canal and Hawkhead). The station is managed by First ScotRail

First ScotRail

ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...

and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line

Ayrshire Coast Line

The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow...

, 12 km (7¼ miles) west of . The station is protected as a category B listed building.

History

The station was opened on 14 July 1840 on the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway

Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway

The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway was a railway in Scotland that provided train services between Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Ayr. For a short period, it also provided West Coast services between Glasgow and London. Opened in stages between 1839 and 1848, the line ran from Paisley in the...

(GPK&AR). The station was used jointly by the GPK&AR and the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway

Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway

The Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway was an early railway, which merged with the Caledonian Railway. It was created to provide train services between Greenock and Glasgow.-History:...

(GP&GR). However, the GP&GR did not run services until March 1841 due to construction difficulties at Bishopton

Bishopton, Renfrewshire

Bishopton is a large village in Renfrewshire, Scotland, a few miles west of Erskine.-Transport links:Bishopton sits a couple of miles from the southern end of the Erskine Bridge, which spans the River Clyde between Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. Part way along the B815 road is a computer...

.

It was originally built with only two through platforms, with the GPK&R and the GP&GR lines separating to the west of the station. The station was later expanded to four platforms, two for the GPK&R and two for the GP&GR, with the lines separating to the east of the station.

The section between Glasgow Bridge Street railway station and Paisley Gilmour Street station was a joint line: the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway

Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway

The Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway company was formed in 1837 to provide a railway link between Glasgow and Paisley, Scotland. It was promoted jointly by the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway and the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway....

Electrification

The station was electrified as part of the 1967 Inverclyde Line

Inverclyde Line

The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connects to Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services...

. Ayrshire Coast Line

Ayrshire Coast Line

The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow...

platforms (then numbered 1 and 2) were wired, however the wires finished a short distance west of the station. These were extended as part of the Ayrshire Line electrification in 1986. This 1986 work coincided with the renumbering of the platforms with the Glasgow bound platforms numbered 1 (Inverclyde) and 3 (Ayrshire), and the outbound platforms numbers 2 (Inverclyde) and 4 (Ayrshire).

Refurbishment

Following extensive works, Paisley Gilmour Street now has step-free access to all platforms, and the main access onto County Square, has been joined by a re-opened back access onto Back Sneddon Street. The access was originally built along with the station, but had closed and had been converted into a model shop for a number of years. Despite this conversion the shop retained the steps up to stations lower concourse, however it has been bricked up to prevent access. When the shop owner retired, it was decided to purchase the unit and convert it back as part of the step free access works for disabled people, as it would increase space within the station, and the works were fairly simple since the original stairs were retained. After re-opening it was signed as a dedicated exit to the station for those wishing to use the bus link to the airport, as the buses stop directly outside the door and the airport cycle route which passes outside.

1979 rail crash

A collision occurred between two trains at the eastern end of the station on Easter Monday 1979 resulting on the deaths of seven people.

Current operations

Paisley Gilmour Street is the busiest of the four Paisley stations. It has four platforms, with trains running on the Inverclyde

Inverclyde Line

and Ayrshire Coast lines. It is the fourth busiest railway station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street

Glasgow Queen Street railway station

Glasgow Queen Street is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, the smaller of the city's two main line railway termini and the third-busiest station in Scotland. It is between George Street to the south and Cathedral Street Bridge to the north, at the northern end of Queen Street adjacent to...

and Edinburgh Waverley

Edinburgh Waverley railway station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...

.

Connecting buses from this station also serve nearby Glasgow Airport

Glasgow International Airport

Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...

(GLA) which is approximately 2 km away. It is possible to buy a railway ticket to and from the airport, which includes not only the train journey but also the journey on Arriva Scotland West 66 and 300 buses which depart from stops outside the Railway station. The Glasgow Airport Rail Link would have replaced this bus service with a direct train, but the project was cancelled in September 2009 due to public spending cuts. It is also possible to cycle from the station to the Airport using the Airport Cycle Route.

It is an important interchange, not only for the airport bus link, but also for many local buses which depart from the area surrounding the town centre running to destinations throughout the town of Paisley, Renfrew

Renfrew

-Local government:The town of Renfrew gave its name to a number of local government areas used at various times:*Renfrew a town to the west of Glasgow*Renfrewshire, the present unitary local council area in which Renfrew is situatated....

and to the out of town shopping centre, Braehead

Braehead

Braehead is a commercial development located at the former site of Braehead Power Station in Renfrew on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire. It is particularly notable for its large shopping centre, arena and leisure facilities....

. It is expected that Braehead will get a dedicated bus link in the future, possibly utilising Hillington East

Hillington East railway station

Hillington East railway station is located in the Glasgow district of Hillington, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Inverclyde Line.- History :...

Early 1980s

In the early 1980s up to the electrification of the AyrLine

Ayrshire Coast Line

The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow...

the station was served by:

Glasgow - (DMU): 2 trains per hour (some extended to Girvan)
Glasgow - (DMU): 1 train per hour
Glasgow - (EMU): 3 trains per hour
Glasgow - (EMU): 1 train per hour
Glasgow - (DMU): to connect with ferry to Brodick
Glasgow - (Loco hauled): to connect with ferry to Larne

2008

In 2008 the station was served by:

Glasgow - Ayr (EMU): 2 trains per hour
Glasgow - Largs (EMU): 1 train per hour
Glasgow - (EMU): 1 train per hour, with some extended to to connect with ferry to Brodick
Glasgow - Gourock (EMU): 3 trains per hour
Glasgow - Wemyss Bay (EMU): 1 train per hour
Glasgow - (DMU): occasional trains
Glasgow - (DMU): occasional trains to connect with ferry to Belfast

Routes - present and historical

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