# Dunkeld & Birnam railway station

Dunkeld & Birnam railway station serves the town of Dunkeld and village of Birnam in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is located on the Highland Main Line, 15 miles 31 chains (24.8 km) north of Perth and is the first stop on the line north of there, before Pitlochry. Most services are operated by ScotRail, who also manage the station. LNER and Caledonian Sleeper also call some services here.

## History

The station opened on 7 April 1856, as the terminus of the Perth and Dunkeld Railway from Stanley Junction (on the Scottish Midland Junction Railway). Seven years later, it became a through station when the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway opened its line to Inverness via Pitlochry and Forres (the I&PJR had taken over the Perth & Dunkeld company that year - prior to this, the SMJR had worked the line).
From 1863 to 1896 the station master was John Kinnaird.
The station was host to a LMS caravan in 1935 and 1936 followed by two caravans from 1937 to 1939.
The station was the last in Scotland to be lit by gas lights, these not being replaced by electric versions until the early 1980s. Although the trackbed has been raised following reballasting over the years, the platforms have not had similar treatment and are all considerably sub-standard in height. A couple of 'boxes' have been placed on both platforms to assist passengers to climb into the trains but, because the station is unstaffed, no assistance is available to move these aids into an appropriate position whenever a train arrives.

## Facilities

The station has a small car park (and some bike racks), which gives step-free access to platform 1, which has a bench and a waiting shelter. There is no step-free access (access is via a footbridge) - nor any facilities - on 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 28 chains (560 m) long, flanked by two platforms. Platform 1 on the southbound line can accommodate trains having twelve coaches, but platform 2 on the northbound line can only hold ten. When no crossing is to be made, northbound trains are usually routed through platform 1 which is signalled for bi-directional running.

## Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Dunkeld & Birnham :
| | 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 | 15,406 | 18,810 | 19,339 | 21,897 | 20,856 | 23,578 | 25,436 | 26,178 | 26,506 | 27,862 | 29,924 | 31,050 | 32,022 | 32,878 | 37,982 | 36,930 | 36,608 | 7,740 | 27,444 | 38,416 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

## Services

As of May 2022, there are ten departures northbound to Inverness and eleven to Perth each weekday, with six trains going to Glasgow Queen Street and five to Edinburgh Waverley, including the Caledonian Sleeper service. On Sundays, there are 4 trains per day to Inverness (one of which extends to Elgin) and, southbound, four trains to Edinburgh Waverley (including the LNER Highland Chieftain service) and two to Glasgow Queen Street.
| Preceding station | National Rail | National Rail | National Rail | Following station |
| Perth | | London North Eastern Railway Sunday, Southbound Only East Coast Main Line | | Pitlochry |
| Perth | | ScotRail Highland Line | | Pitlochry |
| Perth | | Caledonian Sleeper Highland Caledonian Sleeper | | Pitlochry |
| | Historical railways | Historical railways | Historical railways | |
| Rohallion Line open; station closed | | Highland Railway Perth and Dunkeld Railway Inverness and Perth Junction Railway | | Dalguise Line open; station closed |