Corrour railway station
 Corrour station, looking southeast | |
| General information | |
| Location | Loch Ossian, Highland Scotland |
| Coordinates | 56°45′37″N 4°41′27″W / 56.7602°N 4.6907°W |
| Grid reference | NN356663 |
| Managed by | ScotRail |
| Platforms | 2 (1 in regular use) |
| Other information | |
| Station code | CRR[2] |
| History | |
| Original company | West Highland Railway |
| Pre-grouping | North British Railway |
| Post-grouping | LNER |
| Key dates | |
| 7 August 1894 | Opened[3] |
| Passengers | |
| 2018/19 |  14,344 |
| 2019/20 |  12,630 |
| 2020/21 | 2,268 |
| 2021/22 | 11,518 |
| 2022/23 | 14,108 |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
Corrour railway station is on the
History
 | This section may be signalman lived.[9][10] The adjacent low building (in Corrour's case) was also used as a sub post office from 15 December 1896 and a Post Office telegraph office from 16 August 1898; Corrour even qualified as a post town.[11] Later, the railway constructed a station house for the signalman on the east side of the tracks, and the original building became purely office accommodation for the railway and the post office.[12]
Corrour was originally intended In the early days, there was so much estate business that the railway employed an extra clerkess during the grouse season. It was theoretically a private station for the use of the estate, but it was also used by the public from the start, despite its not appearing in public timetables until September 1934.[18][19] In 1897, the estate built a new lodge at the foot of Loch Ossian, 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the station. There was, however, no vehicular access to the lodge from the public road system, so all goods (including vehicles) had to come and go by rail via Corrour station. Until the track along the south shore of Loch Ossian was built, the estate ran a small steamer from the lodge to the head of Loch Ossian (where Loch Ossian youth hostel is now), from which the station was only a little over a mile (1.6 km) away.[20] In 1972, the Forestry Commission built a private macadamized road from the A86 at near Moy Lodge to Corrour Lodge, so for the first time there was vehicular access to the station, via Corrour Lodge and Moy Lodge – a total distance of 15 miles (24 km).[21]
 Corrour sub post and telegraph office closed on 5 March 1977.[11] During the construction of the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme in the 1930s, a small halt was located at Fersit, between Corrour and Tulloch, about 2 miles (3.2 km) short of the latter.[citation needed] Since November 1985, all passenger trains have used the original "down" platform. The "up" loop remains, and is serviceable, but it is no longer used by passenger trains.[10] There was originally a footbridge at Corrour station, providing an exit to the east side, but it was moved to Rannoch station, following the downgrading of the "up" loop at Corrour.[22] Passengers now cross the line by a barrow crossing.[23] In 1998/1999, Corrour Estate replaced the former signalman's house with a new station house. This included business premises and lodging for their managers, and had electric power from a diesel generator.[12][24] The station house subsequently had a number of tenants over the years, becoming an independent hostel, an SYHA hostel (in addition to the SYHA’s nearby hostel at Loch Ossian), and a restaurant. In 2015, the estate took over the running of the building, and after closure for refurbishment, reopened it as a bar and restaurant.[25] In 2012, the red stone chippings on the platform, which Network Rail acknowledged would be hazardous to wheelchair passengers, were replaced by a hard surface.[26] In 2013, Historic Scotland listed the disused signalbox (called the "old watchtower" by Network Rail) and the adjacent building as Category C (the tall boxes at Gorton and Glen Douglas had been demolished).[27] Subsequently, Network Rail, in conjunction with the Corrour Estate and the Railway Heritage Trust, refurbished the signalbox, and in 2016, the estate opened three guest rooms in it.[10] LocationThe station is one of the most remote in the United Kingdom, at an isolated location on the northern edge of Rannoch Moor.[28] It is not accessible by any public roads. The nearest road, the B846 road from Loch Rannoch to Rannoch station, is a ten-mile (16 km) walk away by hill track,[29] although Rannoch station itself is only 7¼ route-miles (11.5 km) away by rail.[30] Vehicular access is by a 15-mile (24 km) private road from a little west of Moy Lodge on the A86. Until the late 1980s, the only electrical power at the station was provided by batteries. The only telephone was the railway's system which linked Corrour only to the adjacent signal boxes at Rannoch and Tulloch, which were on the public telephone system.[31] At 1,340 ft (410 m) above sea level Facilities Corrour is unstaffed and there are no ticket-issuing facilities. There are no departure announcements but there is WiFi, a telephone help point, an electronic departure display and a Caledonian Sleeper digital information point. There is a shelter with bench seats and cycle racks. The station is lit by electric lights.[23][34] Passenger volumeIts estimated usage of 14,344 (2018–2019) made it the busiest station on the line north of Crianlarich, apart from Fort William and Mallaig.[35]
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April. Services.jpg)  Corrour station is served by regular ScotRail passenger trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Fort William and Mallaig. These local services run three times a day in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays, but less frequently on Sundays (twice each way). In addition, Corrour is served by the Caledonian Sleeper service between Fort William and London Euston via Glasgow Queen Street (Low Level) and Edinburgh (these run daily except Saturday nights in each direction). The sleeper also conveys seated coaches and can therefore also be used by regular West Highland passengers travelling to or from Glasgow or Edinburgh.[36][37][38]
Cultural referencesThe station, and the nearby mountain De Wisselwachter. It was also visited by Paul Merton in Episode 3 of his Channel 4 documentary series Paul Merton's Secret Stations.[39] It also featured in an All the Stations documentary in 2019.[40]
The route south from Corrour across the Moor of Rannoch to Rannoch Station itself was used as a filming location in the Harry Potter films where a Death Eater was seen to stand between the rails with an outstretched arm, to bring the approaching Hogwarts Express to a stand for the train to be inspected. Warner Brothers spent a couple of days with equipment based at Rannoch to facilitate the filming sequences.[citation needed] References
Bibliography
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Corrour railway station. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
