page_title: Kilmacolm
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Kilmacolm / Transport
caption_attribution_description: English: w:Kilmacolm railway station in September 1979
context_page_description: Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, 7 ¹⁄₂ miles south-east of Greenock and around 15 miles west of the city of Glasgow. The village has a population of around 4,000 and is part of a wider civil parish which covers a large rural hinterland of 15,000 hectares containing within it the smaller settlement of Quarrier's Village, originally established as a 19th-century residential orphans' home.
  The area surrounding the village was settled in prehistoric times and emerged as part of a feudal society with the parish divided between separate estates for much of its history. The village itself remained small, providing services to nearby farm communities and acting as a religious hub for the parish. The name of the village derives from the Scottish Gaelic Cill MoCholuim, indicating the dedication of its church to St Columba. The parish church was mentioned in a papal bull of 1225 showing its subservience to Paisley Abbey, and it sits on the site of an ancient religious community dating to the 5th or 6th centuries.
context_section_description: Kilmacolm is well connected by road, lying on the A761 between Greenock and Paisley a short distance from the link to the M8 motorway to Glasgow at Johnstone, and is thus popular with commuters. The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body, has direct operational responsibilities covering the area, such as supporting (and in some cases running) local bus services in Kilmacolm and across Strathclyde.
  Kilmacolm is served by the nearby Glasgow International Airport.
  Kilmacolm railway station opened in 1869 and closed in 1983; the station building is now a public house. The railway played a significant role in the village's modern history and expansion, linking it conveniently to nearby urban centres such as Glasgow, Greenock and Paisley. Today, Kilmacolm's nearest National Rail link is at Port Glasgow railway station which lies on the Inverclyde Line linking Glasgow with Gourock and Wemyss Bay. The Ayrshire Coast Line, running between Glasgow and the south-west coast of Scotland, is accessible at nearby Lochwinnoch railway station.
  The former railway track serving Kilmacolm has been converted into a cycle path, and is now part of the Clyde to Forth cycle route (National Cycle Route 75). The route of the line has been preserved, and has been confirmed by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport to be available for use again should future redevelopment of the line be considered.
caption: Kilmacolm railway station in 1979.
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