Barry Links railway station

Barry Links railway station lies south of the village of Barry, west of Carnoustie in Angus, Scotland. It is sited 8 miles 67 chains (14.2 km) from the former Dundee East station, and is on the Dundee to Aberdeen line, between Monifieth and Golf Street.[4] The station is managed by ScotRail, who provide all the services at the station.

Barry Links

Scottish Gaelic: Machair Bharraidh[1]
National Rail
General information
LocationBarry, Angus
Scotland
Coordinates56.4932°N 2.7456°W / 56.4932; -2.7456
Grid referenceNO542336
Managed byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBYL[2]
History
Original companyDundee and Arbroath Railway
Pre-groupingCaledonian Railway
Post-groupingLMS
Key dates
31 July 1851Opened as Barry[3]
1 April 1919Renamed as Barry Links[3]
Passengers
2017/18Increase 52
2018/19Increase 122
2019/20Increase 638
2020/21Decrease 184
2021/22Increase 244
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

In 2016/17, Barry Links was the least used railway station in the UK with just 24 entries and exits.[5]

History

The station in 1974

The station was opened on 31 July 1851 by Dundee and Arbroath Railway, and was named Barry,[3] even though the line through the station had opened thirteen years earlier.[6] The station was renamed to its current name on 1 April 1919,[3] presumably to avoid confusion with Barry station, in South Wales.

Facilities

Both platforms have shelters and benches, whilst platform 2 also has cycle racks. Only platform 2 has step-free access.[7] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

In the Strategic Rail Authority's 2002/03 financial year, only three fare-paying people (excluding season ticket holders) boarded trains at Barry Links station, and five disembarked, making it the least-used station in the United Kingdom, tied with Gainsborough Central. In the 2011/12 statistics, Barry Links had the seventh lowest passenger numbers. The low numbers reflect the fact that the service was very sparse at the time. In the 2016/17 statistics, Barry Links again became the least used station in Britain, receiving only 24 entries and exits.[5][8]

In March 2019, ScotRail apologized for previous poor services across the network and offered season ticket holders, on affected routes, unlimited travel anywhere on the ScotRail network for selected weekends in March–May 2019.[9] This then meant passengers were to buy the cheapest season ticket available between Golf Street and Barry Links, in order to take advantage of this promotion. As a result, the year 2019/20 saw a massive increase in passenger entries/exits to the station.

Passenger Volume at Barry Links[5]
2002–03 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
Entries and exits 8 26 28 44 98 94 90 74 86 52 40 60 68 24 52 122 638 184 244

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

As of May 2023, there is a total of four trains per day (two in each direction): southbound, there is an 06:18 to Dundee and an 07:54 to Glasgow Queen Street, whilst northbound there is an 18:11 and an 18:48, both to Arbroath. There is no Sunday service.[10]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Monifieth   ScotRail
Dundee–Aberdeen line
Mondays-Saturdays only
  Golf Street
  Historical railways  
Buddon
Line open; station closed
  Caledonian Railway and North British Railway
Dundee and Arbroath Railway
  Carnoustie
Line and station open

References

  1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. Deaves, Phil. "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  3. Butt, page 28
  4. Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 95. ISBN 978 1909431 26 3.
  5. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. Quick 2022, p. 69.
  7. "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  8. "Scottish railway station is least used in Britain". BBC News. December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  9. "ScotRail says sorry and offers extra compensation | ScotRail".
  10. "eNRT May 2023 Edition, Table 214 Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth to Dundee, Arbroath, Aberdeen, Inverurie, Elgin and Inverness.pdf" (PDF). Network Rail.

Bibliography

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