Georgemas Junction railway station is a railway station serving the village of Halkirk and its surrounding areas in the Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

 council area, northern Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The station is on the Far North Line

Far North Line

The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick.- Route :...

, within the historic county of Caithness. Georgemas Junction is the junction of the Thurso branch from the Inverness-Wick line. The junction is the most northerly railway junction in the United Kingdom.

Operation

Until diesel multiple unit trains were introduced in the early 1990s, all trains on the Far North Line were locomotive hauled (latterly by Class 37

British Rail Class 37

The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Also known as the English Electric Type 3, the Class was ordered as part of the British Rail modernisation plan....

 locomotives). Northbound passenger trains would divide at Georgemas Junction, with the rear portion for Thurso and the front portion for Wick. A locomotive was stabled at Georgemas Junction to haul the Thurso carriages.

Following the introduction of Class 156

British Rail Class 156

The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...

 diesel multiple unit

Diesel multiple unit

A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...

s on the line, trains were always composed of two trainsets (four cars) and at Georgemas, these would split in half with the front portion heading to Wick, the rear to Thurso.

This practice was halted with the introduction of Class 158

British Rail Class 158

British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs...

 sets which operated as single sets. On arrival at Georgemas Junction from Inverness, trains must reverse to reach Thurso. The train then operates from Thurso back to Georgemas Junction and on to Wick. An easement to the National Routeing Guide

National Routeing Guide

The National Routeing Guide is a document, the definitive resource on the validity of rail tickets for the purpose of rail travel in England, Wales, and Scotland . As stated by the Rail Regulator, "[it] sets out passengers' rights to use the network flexibly"...

 allows passengers for Wick to stay on the train between Georgemas Junction and Thurso, which would otherwise technically be off-route.