East Linton railway station

East Linton railway station served the village of East Linton in Scotland between 1846 and 1964. It was on the main line of the North British Railway. A new station, on a different site, is currently under construction and is due to open in December 2023.

East Linton
East Linton station site in July 1997
General information
LocationEast Linton, East Lothian
Scotland
Coordinates55.9856°N 2.6579°W / 55.9856; -2.6579
Grid referenceNT590771
Operated byScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused, under construction
Station codeELT
History
Original companyNorth British Railway
Pre-groupingNorth British Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
22 June 1846 (1846-06-22)Station opened as Linton
December 1864Renamed East Linton
4 May 1964 (1964-05-04)Station closed
2023Reopening

History

The main line of the North British Railway, between Edinburgh (North Bridge) and Berwick-upon-Tweed, was authorised either on 4 July 1844[1] or on 19 July 1844,[2] and opened to the public on 22 June 1846.[3][1][4] One of the original stations was Linton, which was flanked by Drem towards Edinburgh and Dunbar towards Berwick.[5] The initial service was of five trains each way on weekdays, and two on Sundays.[3]

The main line ran roughly east–west through Linton.[6] East Fortune station, between Drem and Linton, opened 1848.[7] Linton station was renamed East Linton in December 1864.[7][4]

Facilities

In 1904 the station was able to handle all classes of traffic (goods, passengers, parcels, wheeled vehicles, livestock, etc.) and there was a goods crane capable of lifting 3 long tons (3,048 kg).[8]

Maps of the period show that East Linton station had platforms on both sides of the double-track main line which were linked by a footbridge; the station building was on the southern (westbound) platform; the goods yard with its crane was on the south side of the main line on the western side of the station. The maps also show long sidings each side of the line to the west of the station, a goods shed and weighing machine in the goods yard, a signal box opposite the goods shed and several signals.[9]

Decline and closure

Unlike Drem and Dunbar, both East Linton and East Fortune were listed for closure in the first Beeching report,[10] and duly closed on 4 May 1964.[7]

New station

A study published in 2013 proposed that East Linton and Reston stations be reopened.[11] When Abellio ScotRail took over the franchise in April 2015, they committed to reopening both stations as part of the local Berwick service by December 2016. Although Scottish Government and local authority funding was secured, a decision was taken between Transport Scotland and East Lothian Council to integrate the construction of East Linton Railway Station within a larger programme of works in the next rail investment period of 2019 to 2024.[12]

Contractors started survey work in early 2020 at the proposed site of the station, which is further west of the old station site.[13]

Plans for the railway station were published in October 2020 with plans submitted in early 2021.[14] East Lothian Council's planning committee approved the proposals which will see a station open in the village of East Linton for the first time in more than half a century.

The plans for East Linton will see the construction of a two-platform station on the East Coast mainline, with 128 car parking spaces. The station itself will be fully accessible with lifts and a footbridge connecting both platforms.[14] The Full Plans have been released by Network Rail.[15]

Preparatory work started in November 2021 with main construction work starting in February 2022 and scheduled completion in December 2023.

Preceding station Future services Following station
Dunbar   ScotRail
Edinburgh to Dunbar		   Musselburgh

Notes
  1. Awdry 1990, p. 152.
  2. Ellis 1959, p. 5.
  3. Ellis 1959, p. 11.
  4. Butt 1995, p. 143.
  5. Ellis 1959, p. 8.
  6. Conolly 1976, p. 31, section B1.
  7. Butt 1995, p. 88.
  8. RCH 1970, p. 181.
  9. OS 1907.
  10. Beeching 1963, p. 123.
  11. BBC News 2013.
  12. Ritchie 2017.
  13. Jones 2020, p. 84.
  14. Scotland's Railway.
  15. Campbell 2021.

References
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
  • Beeching, Richard (27 March 1963). The Reshaping of British Railways, part 1: Report (Report). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  • Campbell, Owen (7 September 2021). "Planning consent received for East Linton station development" (Press release). Network Rail. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  • Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
  • "East coast rail study submitted to transport minister". BBC News. BBC. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  • Ellis, Cuthbert Hamilton (September 1959) [1955]. The North British Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. 813/284/15 959.
  • Jones, Ben (March 2020). "Survey work starts at East Linton". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 166, no. 1, 428. Horncastle: Morton's Media. p. 84. ISSN 0033-8923.
  • "Reston station case taken to Scottish Parliament". BBC News South Scotland. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  • Haddingtonshire (Map). 1:2500. Ordnance Survey. 1907.
  • The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970 [1904]. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.
  • "Eastern fury at Abellio's delay for rail timetable". Southern Reporter. Selkirk: Johnston Publishing Ltd. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  • Ritchie, Cameron (20 July 2017). "Waiting another seven years for new station?". East Lothian Courier. Newsquest Clyde & Forth. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  • "East Linton Station". Scotland's Railway. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Dunbar
Line and station open		   North British Railway
NBR Main Line		   East Fortune
Line open, station closed
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