Motherwell railway station

Motherwell
Motherwell looking from the south, with stabling sidings in the foreground. Platform 4 is closest to the camera. The bridge in the foreground has recently been replaced with a DDA compliant one.
Location
Place	Motherwell
Local authority	North Lanarkshire
Coordinates	55°47′31″N 3°59′38″W / 55.792°N 3.994°W / 55.792; -3.994Coordinates: 55°47′31″N 3°59′38″W / 55.792°N 3.994°W / 55.792; -3.994
Operations
Station code	MTH
Managed by	First ScotRail
Number of platforms	4
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2002/03 *	0.908 million
2004/05 *	0.962 million
2005/06 *	1.052 million
2006/07 *	1.095 million
2007/08 *	1.097 million
2008/09 *	1.566 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Motherwell from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

View northward towards Glasgow Central in 1966

Motherwell railway station serves Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on the West Coast Main Line, and is served also by Argyle Line trains of the Glasgow suburban railway network. It is the penultimate stop on the northbound WCML before Glasgow. There are four platforms of various length currently in operation at Motherwell. The station is located next to the town's main shopping arcade, Brandon Shopping Centre.

History

The current Motherwell station was built to replace an earlier station which was opened by the Caledonian Railway at nearby Orbiston. As Orbiston station was quite some distance from the rapidly expanding Motherwell town centre, the decision was taken to build a station at 'Lesmahagow Junction', the point where the Motherwell Deviation branch of the Caledonian Railway Main Line met the lines to Mossend, Hamilton and Lesmahagow. This new site was conveniently in the heart of the town.

The current station was built by British Rail during the 1970s on the site of the original to coincide with the electrification of the West Coast Main Line. It has four through platforms, crossed by two overbridges with the main buildings being above the level of the line between Platforms 2 and 3. At platform level between 2 and 3 there is also a First ScotRail traincrew depot, staff car park and an office of the British Transport Police. These are accessible via a gated rampway leading to street level.

Beyond Platform 4 are some electrified sidings used for the stabling of trains overnight. Diagrams are nominally worked so that these units will only stay at Motherwell for one night before returning to their allocated depot.

Services

Local services departing to and from the station are provided by First ScotRail and the majority of northbound services serve Glasgow Central (either terminating at the High Level station or passing through the Low Level station en route to Dalmuir or Milngavie), whilst southbound Argyle Line services terminate at Lanark or Carstairs.

All Glasgow bound/originated long distance services operated by Virgin Trains, East Coast, CrossCountry and TransPennine Express pass through Motherwell, bound for various destinations in England, although not all stop here.

Motherwell is unusual in that Glasgow Central can be reached via trains from three different platforms going in two different directions. Glasgow is generally north-west of Motherwell, but trains can depart via the West Coast Main Line and Motherwell Deviation going North, or by the Hamilton Circle going South. The same can also be said for services to Lanark, which is south-east of Motherwell. Trains can depart towards Lanark going south via Shieldmuir, or initially north, via Holytown.

Platform 1 is used for all southbound InterCity services as well as local services to Carstairs and Edinburgh. Services to Lanark alternate between this and Platform 4 every half hour. Lanark departures from this platform travel via Shieldmuir.

Platform 2 is used for all northbound InterCity services to Glasgow Central as well as local northbound services to Glasgow Central from Edinburgh and Carstairs. Services from Lanark to Glasgow Central via Bellshill also use this platform.

Platform 3 is used by all services to Cumbernauld as well as all services from Lanark to Glasgow Central via Hamilton. Services on the Hamilton Circle line to Glasgow which have arrived via Bellshill also use this platform. One train a day from Edinburgh via Shotts terminates here.

Platform 4 is used by all services on the Hamilton Circle to Glasgow which have arrived via Hamilton, as well as those terminating here to return via Hamilton. Services to Lanark alternate between this and Platform 1 every half hour. Lanark departures from this platform travel via Holytown.

During times of disruption such as the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Uddingston and Law Junction for engineering works, Virgin Trains services and those of CrossCountry can be diverted along the Hamilton Circle and Wishaw Deviation (and sometimes the line to Edinburgh via Shotts) and will use Platforms 3 and 4. Trains provided by East Coast will generally be suspended in this event as their drivers do not have the required route knowledge. In general, a replacement bus service will operate from Motherwell, and passengers from Glasgow are advised to travel to Edinburgh via Glasgow Queen Street.

May 2011

The usual Monday to Friday service pattern is as follows

1tph - Lanark via Shieldmuir (ScotRail)
1tph - Lanark via Holytown (ScotRail)
1tph - Cumbernauld (ScotRail)
2tph - Glasgow Central/Dalmuir/Milngavie via Bellshill (ScotRail)
2tph - Glasgow Central/Dalmuir/Milngavie via Hamilton Central (ScotRail)
1tp2h - Birmingham/Bristol via Edinburgh/York (CrossCountry)^{[citation needed]}

2tpd - North Berwick via Edinburgh (ScotRail)
2tpd - London Euston via Carlisle/Preston (Virgin Trains)
1tpd - London Kings Cross via Edinburgh/York (East Coast)

External links

• Train times and station information for Motherwell railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Haymarket		CrossCountry Cross Country Network		Glasgow Central
Carlisle or Lockerbie		Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line		Glasgow Central
Haymarket or Edinburgh Waverley		East Coast East Coast Main Line		Glasgow Central
Lockerbie		TransPennine Express (TransPennine North West)		Glasgow Central
Holytown or Shieldmuir or Whifflet		First ScotRail Argyle Line		Airbles or Bellshill or Uddingston
Terminus		First ScotRail Motherwell to Cumbernauld Line		Whifflet
Wishaw		First ScotRail North Berwick Line		Glasgow Central
Carstairs		First ScotRail Lowland Caledonian Sleeper		Glasgow Central
	Historical railways
Ferniegair Line and station open (except section between Ferniegair and Ross Junction)		Coalburn Branch Caledonian Railway		Terminus
Hamilton Central Line and station open		Hamilton Branch Caledonian Railway		Terminus
Terminus		Clydesdale Junction Railway		Uddingston Line and station open
Wishaw South Line open; station closed		Wishaw and Coltness Railway CR Main Line		Mossend Line open; station closed