# Kildonan railway station

Kildonan railway station (/kɪlˈdɒnən/ kil-DON-ən) is a railway station near Kildonan Lodge in the Highland council area in the north of Scotland. It is located on the Far North Line, between Helmsdale and Kinbrace, 111 miles 5 chains (178.7 km) from Inverness, and has a single platform which is long enough for a three-coach train. All services are operated by ScotRail, who manage the station.

## History

The station opened on 28 July 1874. In 1952 the station was awarded a special class award in the British Railway (Scottish Region) Best Kept Stations Competition.

### Accidents and incidents

On 7 February 1884 there was an accident at the station. A special fish train from Wick approached the station when it derailed and ploughed up several hundred yards of track. The fireman, Alexander Campbell of Wick, died and the engine driver, David Mathieson of Wick was badly injured.

### Proposed closure

On 10 June 2018, it was announced that Hitrans had proposed the station for closure, shaving four minutes off journey times on the Inverness to Thurso/Wick route and put application in to Transport Scotland to consider the proposals. However following objections by three local councillors Hitrans withdrew the application.

## Facilities

The station has very basic facilities, including a waiting shelter, a bench, a help point and bike racks. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.
On 20 December 2022, Transport Scotland introduced a new "Press & Ride" system at Kildonan, following successful trials of the system at Scotscalder over the previous four months. Previously, passengers wishing to board a train at Kildonan had to flag the train by raising their arm (as is still done at other request stops around the country); this meant that the driver needed to reduce the train's speed before a request stop (to look out for any potential passengers on the platform and be able to stop if necessary), even if the platform was empty. The new system consists of an automatic kiosk (with a button for passengers to press) at the platform; this will alert the driver about any waiting passengers in advance and, if there is no requirement to stop, the train can maintain line speed through the request stops, thus improving reliability on the whole line.

## Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Kildonan :
| | 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 | 89 | 145 | 165 | 231 | 244 | 174 | 204 | 142 | 240 | 62 | 144 | 96 | 170 | 76 | 206 | 168 | 214 | 16 | 140 | 148 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
For the year 2023/24, Kildonan recorded the fewest entries and exits of all railway stations in Scotland (and 10th fewest in the UK overall).

## Services

It is currently served by four trains each day (Mon-Sat) to Inverness and three trains in the opposite direction to Wick (via Thurso), with one train in each direction on a Sunday.
| Preceding station | National Rail | National Rail | National Rail | Following station |
| Helmsdale | | ScotRail Far North Line | | Kinbrace or Forsinard |
| | Historical railways | Historical railways | Historical railways | |
| Salzcraggie Platform Line open, station closed | | Highland Railway Sutherland and Caithness Railway | | Borrobol Platform Line open, station closed |