# Blair Atholl railway station

Blair Atholl railway station is a railway station serving the village of Blair Atholl, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line, 35 miles 9 chains (56.5 km) from Perth, between Pitlochry and Dalwhinnie. There is a crossover at the north end of the station to allow trains to turn back if the line south to Pitlochry is closed.

## History

The station was opened by the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway on 9 September 1863.
One of the first visitors to the station was Queen Victoria, who arrived in a Royal Train on 15 September 1863 during a visit to Blair Castle to see George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl, who was very ill. For its first thirty years until 1893, the station was named 'Blair Athole'; the present B-listed station was renamed to its current name in the 1890s.
It originally had a 770-yard (700 m) long passing loop, which was flanked by the two platforms, but this has since been extended northwards as double track as far as Dalwhinnie.

## Facilities

There are benches on both platforms, with a waiting shelter on platform 2 and natural shelter from the station buildings on platform 1, with a small car park and bike racks adjacent to the latter. As well as the footbridge between the platforms, there is also step-free access to both platforms (from the car park to platform 1 and from the level crossing to platform 2). As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

## Platform layout

The station has a passing loop 35 chains (700 m) long, with two platforms. Platform 1 on the southbound line can accommodate trains having seven coaches, whereas platform 2 on the northbound line can hold eleven. Beyond here the line is double track as far as Dalwhinnie.

## Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Blair Atholl :
| | 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 | 2022–23 |
| Entries and exits | 8,613 | 11,708 | 11,896 | 10,491 | 10,443 | 10,580 | 11,572 | 13,948 | 12,608 | 14,280 | 14,084 | 16,062 | 16,652 | 17,598 | 19,802 | 21,008 | 18,388 | 3,688 | 11,870 | 13,402 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

## Services

As of the May 2022 timetable, on weekdays and Saturdays there are 5 trains per day northbound (all going to Inverness), and 6 trains per day southbound (three to Glasgow Queen Street, two to Edinburgh and the southbound Caledonian Sleeper, picking up only, weekdays only). A reduced service operates on Sundays, with 3 trains per day to Inverness (1 of which extends to Elgin), and 2 trains to Glasgow and 2 trains to Edinburgh, including the Highland Chieftain to London Kings Cross, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper.
| Preceding station | National Rail | National Rail | National Rail | Following station |
| Pitlochry | | London North Eastern Railway Sundays, Southbound Only Highland Main Line | | Newtonmore |
| Pitlochry | | ScotRail Highland Main Line | | Dalwhinnie or Newtonmore or Kingussie |
| Pitlochry | | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper Southbound only | | Dalwhinnie |
| | Historical railways | Historical railways | Historical railways | |
| Killiecrankie Line open; station closed | | Highland Railway Inverness and Perth Junction Railway | | Black Island Platform Line open; station closed |