# Garelochhead railway station

Garelochhead railway station (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Gheàrrloch) is a railway station serving the village of Garelochhead, on the Gare Loch, in Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line and is a boundary station for SPT. It is sited 8 miles 76 chains (14.4 km) from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh, between Arrochar and Tarbet and Helensburgh Upper. ScotRail manage the station and operate most services, with others provided by Caledonian Sleeper.

## History

This station opened to passengers on 7 August 1894.
The station was laid out with a crossing loop and an island platform. There were sidings on both sides, and a turntable on the west side of the line.
The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939. A camping coach was also positioned here by the Scottish Region from 1964 to 1967.
Until the 1960s, the station was served by a local shuttle service between Craigendoran and Arrochar & Tarbet in addition to main line trains to Fort William and Mallaig. Latterly operated by a Wickham diesel railbus, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in June 1964.

## Facilities

The island platform is equipped with benches, a help point, a car park and bike racks, the latter two located outside the station. The only access to the station is via a subway, some steps and a ramp, so the station does not have step-free access. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

## Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Garelochhead :
| | 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 | 2021-22 |
| Entries and exits | 3,868 | 4,824 | 5,940 | 5,269 | 5,156 | 5,374 | 4,706 | 5,040 | 5,122 | 5,682 | 5,256 | 6,920 | 7,806 | 8,556 | 9,796 | 8,818 | 8,594 | 1,678 | 8,478 | 10,030 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

## Services

Monday to Saturday, there are six services to Oban and three to Mallaig (the latter combined with Oban portions, dividing at Crianlarich), and one service to Fort William (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper, weekday mornings only) northbound. Southbound, there are six services to Glasgow Queen Street High Level and one service to London Euston via Queen Street Low Level & Edinburgh Waverley (the Highland Caledonian Sleeper - does not run on Saturday).
On Sundays, there are two trains northbound to Mallaig, the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William and one extra to Oban only, plus an extra summer service to Oban; Southbound there are three trains southbound to Glasgow Queen Street. In summer months, the extra summer Sunday service returns to Edinburgh, avoiding Glasgow.
| Preceding station | National Rail | National Rail | National Rail | Following station |
| Helensburgh Upper | | ScotRail West Highland Line | | Arrochar & Tarbet |
| Helensburgh Upper | | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper | | Arrochar & Tarbet |
| | Historical railways | Historical railways | Historical railways | |
| Shandon Line open; Station closed | | West Highland Railway North British Railway | | Whistlefield Halt Line open; Station closed |