Beauly railway station serves the village of Beauly in the Highland Council area of Scotland. It is the first stop after leaving Inverness station, heading north on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line and the Far North Line. The original station, opened in 1862 with the construction of the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway, had two platforms and a passing loop. It closed nearly a century later, in 1960.
Following a local campaign, the station was reopened in 2002. A new platform, shelter and car park were built in a £250,000 project. This platform is one of the shortest in Scotland, only long enough for a single carriage. Normally operated by Class 158 trains, there is only one door in operation. Announcements are made on the train as to which door this will be. The original station building is now used for offices and housing.
The reopening of the station led to 75% of local commuters switching from road to rail. Beauly has therefore provided a boost to campaigns to open small basic local stations. In 2007/8 with its population of just 1,164 Beauly's usage to population ratio (36 annual journeys per head) ranked as one of the highest in Britain. With increased services, usage became more impressive still (75,750 per annum) giving a population to usage ratio of 65 journeys per head of population.
It's time for another good sing-song!
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