Beauly railway station is a railway station in the village of Beauly, in the Highland council area of Scotland. Located on the Far North Line, it is 10 mi down the line from Inverness, and is the first intermediate station on the line, before reaching Muir of Ord. ScotRail, which manages the station, operates all services.

History

Original station

The Inverness and Ross-shire Railway, which was to be a line between Inverness and Invergordon, was authorised in 1860, and opened in stages. The first section, between Inverness and Dingwall, opened on 11 June 1862, and Beauly was one of the stations built for the original line. It had two platforms, a passing loop and a goods shed with sidings that was equipped with a 1½-ton crane. The station was host to an LMS caravan from 1936 to 1939. The station closed nearly a century later, on 13 June 1960, along with all other stations between Inverness and Dingwall. This was due to increasing competition from motorbuses, particularly those of Highland Omnibuses Ltd.

2002 reopening

Following a local campaign, the station was reopened on 15 April 2002. A new single platform, shelter and car park were built in a £250,000 project. The platform is the shortest in Great Britain: at the length of 15.06 m, it is shorter than a single carriage of a train that is usually used on this line.

Facilities

There is a small car park at the station, in which there are cycle racks and lockers. On the platform, there is a modern waiting shelter, in which there is a payphone. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

As of the May 2022 timetable, on weekdays and Saturdays, the station sees 11 trains northbound (3 to Wick via Thurso, 4 to Kyle of Lochalsh, 1 to Dingwall, 1 to Invergordon, 1 to Ardgay and 1 to Tain), and 13 trains southbound to Inverness. On Sundays, the station sees 6 trains northbound (1 to Wick, 1 to Kyle of Lochalsh, 1 to Invergordon and 3 to Tain), and 6 trains southbound.