Portpatrick railway station

Portpatrick railway station was a railway station serving the village of Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. Opened in 1862 the station served the village until the line between Portpatrick and Stranraer closed in 1950.

The development of railways in the south west of Scotland came later than much of the rest of the country and it was not until 1857 that a line was authorised.^[1] The company entitled the Portpatrick Railway was to run from Dumfries to Portpatrick with a short branch to the harbour at Stranraer.^[1] Portpatrick was chosen as the terminus because it is the closest point to Ireland on the British mainland and the promoters of the line wished to develop the mail traffic across this sea route.^[2]

Construction of the line between Stranraer and Portpatrick did not start until 1860, priority having been given to the line from Dumfries but as the act authorising the company placed a stricture on the company forbidding the payment of any dividend until the line to Portpatrick and the harbour there,^[3] attention moved to the line and it was ready for inspection by the Board of TradeInspector in August 1862.^[4] With the line approved the station opened for traffic on 28 August 1862.^[5][6]

The line ran from Stranraer in a generally south-westerly direction before curving through almost a half circle to run into the village on a north-east axis to the station site which was hewn out of the hillside above the village.^[7] A single platform was provided along with goods facilities and a small engine shed and turntable.^[7] The station was host to a LMScaravan in 1935 and 1936 followed by two caravans from 1937 to 1939.^[8]

تراوحت خدمات نقل الركاب بين ثلاثة وستة قطارات يوميًا بين بورت باتريك ومدينة سترانراير . ^{[ 13 ]} وكانت جميع الخدمات تقريبًا تنتهي في سترانراير، وكان على المسافرين الذين يتابعون رحلاتهم تغيير القطار في سترانراير للوصول إلى خدمات متجهة إلى كارلايل أو غلاسكو. ^{[ 13 ]}

كانت خدمات محطة بورت باتريك بمثابة إغلاق مبكر لإدارة السكك الحديدية البريطانية ؛ إذ كانت الحافلات من وإلى سترانراير أكثر تواتراً وسرعة من خدمات القطارات، لذا أُغلقت المحطة في 6 فبراير 1950 مع سحب جميع خدمات نقل الركاب والبضائع. ^{[ 14 ] [ 6 ]} أُزيلت السكة الحديدية بعد ذلك بوقت قصير، ويشغل موقع المحطة الآن مجمع سكني.