Aviemore (Speyside) railway station
Encyclopedia
Aviemore was a station on the Strathspey Railway that closed in July 1998. It was built in the late 1970s from components from Dalnaspidal, a station on the Highland Main Line
closed as part of the Beeching Axe
. When the Strathspey Railway was founded, British Rail
refused access to Aviemore railway station
and the company was forced to construct its own terminus up the line in the railway yard.
The role of the station came to an end when, in the 1990s, the Aviemore Centre came to be redeveloped. An effort was launched to bring the village's most popular tourist attraction closer to the centre of the village. Meanwhile, then station
owner Railtrack
was seeking to cover some of the maintenance backlog on its estate. When all the parties had agreed, the redevelopment went ahead. When the refurbished main line station was opened, Aviemore Speyside fell out of regular use, though it was at first retained as a fallback in case of problems with Network Rail
.
Highland Main Line
The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edinburgh, Glasgow and London use the line...
closed as part of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
. When the Strathspey Railway was founded, British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
refused access to Aviemore railway station
Aviemore railway station
Aviemore railway station serves the town and tourist resort of Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. The station, which is owned by Network Rail and managed by First ScotRail, is located on the Highland Main Line between Perth and Inverness, and is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey...
and the company was forced to construct its own terminus up the line in the railway yard.
The role of the station came to an end when, in the 1990s, the Aviemore Centre came to be redeveloped. An effort was launched to bring the village's most popular tourist attraction closer to the centre of the village. Meanwhile, then station
Aviemore railway station
Aviemore railway station serves the town and tourist resort of Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. The station, which is owned by Network Rail and managed by First ScotRail, is located on the Highland Main Line between Perth and Inverness, and is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey...
owner Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
was seeking to cover some of the maintenance backlog on its estate. When all the parties had agreed, the redevelopment went ahead. When the refurbished main line station was opened, Aviemore Speyside fell out of regular use, though it was at first retained as a fallback in case of problems with Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
.