Dunbar railway station

Dunbar Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Bàrr[1]
Looking north from the reinstated second platform (2020)
General information
Location	Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland
Coordinates	55°59′55″N 2°30′52″W / 55.9985°N 2.5145°W / 55.9985; -2.5145
Grid reference	NT680784
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Tracks	3
Other information
Station code	DUN
History
Original company	North British Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
16 June 1846	Opened[2]
Passengers
2020/21	66,300
2021/22	0.252 million
2022/23	0.319 million
2023/24	0.399 million
2024/25	0.416 million
Listed Building – Category B
Designated	11 January 1988
Reference no.	LB24857[3]
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Dunbar railway station serves the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian, Scotland. It is located on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and is a two platform station. It is 29 miles 5 chains (46.8 km) from Edinburgh Waverley and 364.1 miles (586.0 km) from London King's Cross.^[4]

The station, which was first opened by the North British Railway in June 1846, had two platforms and an overall roof. The northbound platform loop line was taken out of use and lifted in the early 1970s, whilst the platform itself and the station roof were both removed during the modernisation and electrification by British Rail of the northern end of the ECML in 1987–88.

For approximately five months in 1979, it was the terminus for a shuttle service to Edinburgh Waverley; it was provided after the ECML was blocked due to the collapse of Penmanshiel Tunnel. Buses linked Dunbar with Berwick-upon-Tweed, from where rail services to London King's Cross resumed.

• On 3 January 1898, an express passenger train collided with a freight train that was being shunted. One person was killed and 21 were injured.^[5]

Platform one is located on a loop adjacent to the main through lines. The second platform is on the main northbound line, which has had trains stopping there since 15 December 2019.

Prior to December 2019, the line on which the main platform is located was bi-directional; this meant that trains travelling to/from London or Edinburgh had to take it in turns to use the station if they were scheduled to stop there. Preliminary work into a new second platform began in October 2015.^[6] In December 2018, Network Rail announced that Amco had been appointed the contractors for the construction of the second platform, which would start in summer 2019 and was intended to have the works completed by early 2020.

Construction of the new platform necessitated a new footbridge with lifts; improvements to the station car park were carried out as part of the project. The bridge was completed ahead of schedule and the new platform opened in December 2019.^[7][8] Final fitting work and completion of the car park continued; however, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9]

With all northbound services now using the second platform and no longer using the main platform loop, with the exception of all terminating ScotRail services from Edinburgh; this now leaves Syston in Leicester as the only example of a single-platformed main line railway station used on a major route.

The station is fully staffed, with the ticket office open throughout the week (Monday-Friday 05:55-21:30, Saturday 06:25-20:40 and Sunday 11:15-21:30). Self-service ticket machines are also provided for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. There are toilets, a payphone and vending machines on the concourse. Train running information is provided by manual announcements, digital customer information system displays, a help point and timetable posters. Level access is available from the entrance and concourse to the platform.^[10]

The station entrance lies to the east, adjacent to the southbound platform. The northbound platform is accessible via a footbridge with lifts.

The station is served by four train operating companies, which provide the following general off-peak service in trains per hour/day (tph/tpd):

CrossCountry:^[11]

• 2 tpd to Edinburgh Waverley
• 1 tpd to Birmingham New Street.

London North Eastern Railway:^[12]

• 4 tpd to Edinburgh Waverley
• 4 tpd to London Kings Cross
• 1 tpd to York
• 1 tpd to Newcastle.

ScotRail:^[13]

• 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley, via Musselburgh (stopping service).

TransPennine Express:^[14]

• 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley
• 1 tp2h to Newcastle.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnmouth or Newcastle		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		Edinburgh Waverley
Reston, Berwick-upon-Tweed or Alnmouth		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Edinburgh Waverley
Reston		TransPennine Express North Route		East Linton
Terminus		ScotRail Edinburgh-Dunbar		East Linton
	Historical railways
Innerwick Line open, station closed		North British Railway NBR Main Line		East Linton Line and station open (resited)

• Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dunbar railway station.

• Video footage of Dunbar station