Inverclyde Line

Railway line in Scotland

Inverclyde Line

A Class 314 train leaves Gourock pierhead to run along the south bank of the Firth of Clyde towards Glasgow

Overview
Owner| Network Rail
Locale| Inverclyde
Scotland
Stations| 22
Service
System| National Rail
Operator(s)| ScotRail
Rolling stock|

* Class 380
* Class 318
* Class 320
* Class 385

Technical
Track gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification| 25 kV 50 Hz AC

Route map

(Click to expand)

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Inverclyde Line

Legend

|  | Glasgow Central

( St Enoch)

|  |
Cardonald |  |

|  |
Hillington East |  |

|  |
Hillington West |  |

|  |
|  |

|  |
Paisley Gilmour Street |  |

|  |

Ayrshire Coast Line

|  |

|  |
Paisley St James |  |

|  |
Bishopton |  |

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Langbank |  |

|  |
Woodhall |  |

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Port Glasgow |  |

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|  |

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Whinhill |  |

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Drumfrochar |  |

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Branchton |  |

|  |
IBM |  |

|  |
Inverkip |  |

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Wemyss Bay |  |

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Bogston |  |

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Cartsdyke |  |

|  |
Greenock Central |  |

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Greenock West |  |

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Fort Matilda |  |

|  |
Gourock |  |

|  |
|  |  |  |  |  |

Detailed View

| Glasgow Central

Argyle Line

|  |  | Glasgow Subway

Argyle Line
|  |

|  |

|  St Enoch

River Clyde

|  |

|  | Bridge Street
|  |

|  |

Bridge Street

| Glasgow Subway

West Street

|  |

City Union Line

|  |

|  |

West Coast Main Line

|  |

|  |

| General Terminus and

Glasgow Harbour Railway

|  |
|  |

|  | Shields Road
|  |

|  |
|  |

|  |

Paisley Canal Line

|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Ibrox

Govan Branch

|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Cardonald
| Glasgow and Renfrew

District Railway

|  |
|  |

|  | Hillington East
|  |

|  | Hillington West
|  |

|  |
|  |

|  |

Arkleston Junction

| Paisley and Renfrew

Railway

|  |

| Paisley and Barrhead

District Railway

White Cart Water

|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Paisley Gilmour Street
Paisley St James |  |

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Ayrshire Coast Line

|  |

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Walkinshaw Junction

|  |

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| Paisley and Barrhead

District Railway

|  |

|  |

Black Cart Water

River Cart

|  |

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Linwood

|  |

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River Gryfe

|  |

|  | Georgetown
|  |

|  | Bishopton
|  |

|  |
|  |

|  |

Bishopton Tunnels

|  |

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|  | Langbank
|  |

|  | Woodhall
|  |

|  | Port Glasgow

Devol Burn

|  |

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Wemyss Bay Junction

Bogston |  |

|  |
|  |

|  |

Greenock & Ayrshire Railway

James Watt Dock

|  |

|  |

66D Ladyburn locomotive shed

Cartsdyke |  |

|  |
|  |

|  |

Cartsburn Tunnels

Greenock Central |  |

|  | Whinhill

Anne St Tunnel

|  |

|  |
Greenoch Lynedoch |  |

|  | Upper Greenock

Wellpark Tunnel

|  |

|  |
Greenock West |  |

|  | Drumfrochar

Greenock Princes Pier

|  |

|  |

Newton Street Tunnel

|  |

|  | Branchton
Fort Matilda |  |

|  | Ravenscraig
|  |

|  | IBM
Gourock |  |

|  |

Dunrod

to Argyll

|  |

|  |

Daff Glen

|  |

|  | Inverkip
|  |

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Inverkip Tunnel

|  |

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|  |

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Wemyss Bay Goods

|  |

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to Bute

|  |

|  | Wemyss Bay
|  |  |  |  |  |

The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley (Gilmour Street) and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connects to Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services. The line has been in operation since the 1840s between Glasgow and Greenock and was the first passenger service to follow the River Clyde to the coast. The line was electrified in 1967.

## History

[edit]

Main articles: Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway; Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway; and Glasgow and South Western Railway

The line was opened by the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway on 31 March 1841, and initially ran from Bridge Street railway station in Glasgow to a terminus at Cathcart Street, Greenock (later renamed Greenock Central railway station), with the section between Glasgow, and Paisley Gilmour Street being run by the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway. For the first time a railway took passengers right down the River Clyde, taking about one hour whereas Clyde steamers took around twice as long. The terminus was a short walk from Custom House Quay, Greenock, and the railway was very popular with passengers who boarded steamers there to visit holiday resorts down the Firth of Clyde or to commute in summer to their villas around the shores of the firth.[1][2]

On 9 July 1847 the railway merged with the Caledonian Railway and became their main outlet to the coast. The Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway opened its branch line on 13 May 1865 with its trains being operated by the Caledonian Railway, but its steamer operations were slow to live up to their promise and when in 1869 the Glasgow and South Western Railway opened its station at Princes Pier, Greenock, the Cathcart Street station was effectively bypassed and the Caley lost trade. They had been trying for some time to organise an extension to Gourock, and having gained Parliamentary approval in 1884 they spent three years in construction which involved extensive tunnelling, and opened Gourock railway station on 1 June 1889. In August 1893 the Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway.[1]

In the 1923 grouping, the line became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The line was electrified in 1967, seven years after the North Clyde Line. The electric Class 311 trains were specially built for the line in 1967, although Class 303 trains were also used.

## Current operation

[edit]

As of 2025, the line is mainly operated by Class 318s, Class 320s, Class 380s and Class 385s, The Inverclyde line uses the same Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway tracks as the Ayrshire Coast Line until Paisley Gilmour Street; although the two lines occupy different sets of platforms at Paisley Gilmour Street. From Paisley, the line heads to Port Glasgow station, after which it branches. The main route heads through Greenock to Gourock, where it connects with ferry services to Dunoon and Kilcreggan. The branch heads through the southern suburbs of Greenock to Wemyss Bay, where it connects with ferry services to Rothesay on the island of Bute (From 1 October 2015, for a period of 24 weeks, the ferry to Rothesay left from Gourock. This was due to essential improvement work being carried out at Wemyss Bay linkspan)

As of June 2024, for most of the day four trains an hour operate each way on the Glasgow to Port Glasgow stretch, two of which run to Gourock and the other two running to Wemyss Bay. The Gourock trains are express services stopping only at Paisley Gilmour Street and Bishopton between Glasgow and Port Glasgow, while the Wemyss Bay trains stop at all stations. This changes after 7 pm and on Sunday: the Wemyss Bay line is reduced to one train an hour, which runs express between Glasgow and Port Glasgow, and the Gourock trains stop all stations.

## Proposed link to Glasgow Airport

[edit]

The Glasgow Airport Rail Link to Glasgow Airport would have branched off from the Inverclyde Line near Paisley St. James station.[3] In December 2006, the Scottish Executive gave the final go-ahead for the new link to be constructed; however, the project was subsequently cancelled in September 2009.

## Notes

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inverclyde Line.

1. ^ a b McCrorie, Ian (1989). To The Coast. Fairlie, Ayrshire: Fairlie Press. ISBN 1-871209-01-3.
2. ^ "Glasgow Railways: a chronology". cat-flap.demon.co.uk. March 1998. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
3. ^ Rehfisch, Alan; Reid, Alasdair (8 March 2006). "Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill" (PDF). The Scottish Parliament. p. 2\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2007.

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Railway lines in Scotland

Cross-border lines and services|

* East Coast Main Line
* CrossCountry
* London North Eastern Railway
* West Coast Main Line
* Avanti West Coast
* Caledonian Sleeper
* TransPennine Express
* Glasgow South Western Line
* ScotRail

ScotRail intercity lines|

* Glasgow–Edinburgh (via Falkirk)
* Edinburgh–Dundee
* Glasgow–Dundee
* Dundee–Aberdeen
* Highland
* Aberdeen–Inverness

Glasgow commuter lines|

*       Argyle
*       Ayrshire Coast
*       Carstairs
*       Cathcart Circle
*       Croy (and Alloa)
*       Cumbernauld (and Falkirk)
*       Inverclyde
*       Maryhill
*       Motherwell–Cumbernauld
*       North Clyde
*       Paisley Canal
*       Shotts
*       South Western
*       Whifflet

Edinburgh commuter lines|

*       Borders
*       Carstairs
*       Dunblane
*       Fife Circle
*       North Berwick
*       North Clyde
*       Shotts

Rural lines and Great Scenic Railways|

* Borders Railway
* Far North
* Glasgow South Western
* Kyle of Lochalsh
* West Highland

Current projects|

Railway electrification in Scotland

Completed projects|

* Airdrie–Bathgate
* Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme
* Stirling–Alloa–Kincardine rail link
* Borders Railway
* Levenmouth rail link

Heritage railways|

* Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
* Caledonian Railway (Brechin)
* Fife Heritage Railway
* Keith and Dufftown Railway
* Royal Deeside Railway
* Scottish Industrial Railway Centre
* Strathspey Railway
* Waverley Route Heritage Association

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