West Kilbride railway station is a railway station in West Kilbride

West Kilbride

West Kilbride is a village in North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the water to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran...

, North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...

, 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 managed by First ScotRail

First ScotRail

ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...

 and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line

Ayrshire Coast Line

The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow...

.

History

The station was opened on 1 May 1878 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway

Glasgow and South Western Railway

The Glasgow and South Western Railway , one of the pre-grouping railway companies, served a triangular area of south-west Scotland, between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle...

 as part of the extension

Largs Branch

The Largs Branch was an extension of the former Ardrossan Railway in Scotland built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway to allow trains to travel between Largs and Glasgow via Ardrossan and Kilwinning.-History:...

 of the former Ardrossan Railway

Ardrossan Railway

The Ardrossan Railway was a railway company in Scotland built in the mid 19th century that primarily ran services between Kilwinning and Ardrossan, as well as freight services to and from collieries between Kilwinning and Perceton...

 to Largs

Largs

Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" in Scottish Gaelic....

. The present station building was designed in 1900 by the noted architect James Miller

James Miller (architect)

James Miller was a Scottish architect and artist. He is noted for his many buildings in Glasgow and for his Scottish railway stations. Among these are the heavily American-influenced Union Bank building at 110-20 St Vincent Street; his 1901-1905 extensions to Glasgow Central railway station; and...

.
Originally a two platform station, the southbound platform was demolished as part of the electrification works in 1985. The former northbound line (to Largs) is electrified and signalled for bi-directional working, being used by passenger trains for both directions, and by northbound freight trains to the Hunterston Terminal

Hunterston Terminal

Hunterston Terminal, in North Ayrshire, Scotland, is a coal-handling port located at Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde, and operated by Clydeport. It lies adjacent to Hunterston estate, site of Hunterston Castle....

. The former southbound track is signalled for southbound working only and is not electrified, being used by southbound trains from Hunterston.
The station building still stands but is no longer used as part of the station itself. Since the ticket office closed the building has been home to shops and cafés, and currently holds a restaurant.

Sources