Aberdeenshire station is back on the tracks

The world has changed a lot since 1967. That was the year when, in the wake of Dr Beeching’s “reshaping” of the British Rail network, the trains stopped serving Laurencekirk.

Here at the heart of the beautiful Mearns countryside, you won’t find many locals who sympathized with the decision to close this station on the busy East Coast mainline between Montrose and Stonehaven. And in Laurencekirk they didn’t let the matter lie.
 
Wherever Beeching’s Axe fell there often followed campaigners who - when arguing the case for reopening or building a station - employed The Field of Dreams maxim: “Build it and they will come”. It was - it is - a good argument. Open a station and, more often than not, you regenerate an area. But rebuilding stations is an expensive business. Returns aren’t made overnight. And sometimes the powers that be can’t work to those timescales. So Laurencekirk concentrated on building its economy.

Local people, many of whom were commuters to Aberdeen and Dyce, built up a strong local business base and doggedly campaigned for the station to be re-opened. In mid- May this year, the campaign came to fruition and locals celebrated the resumption of services. 

Laurencekirk’s economy is looking extremely healthy. Disabled Persons Railcard holders might be interested to know that it is now the home of Journeycall, the company that opens your post, answers your enquiries, processes your applications and issues your railcards.

Journeycall moved to Laurencekirk in 2006 and now employs over 100 people. It also provides a number of other public transport contact centre services too, handling over 5,000 phone calls a day. The success of local companies like Journeycall helped build the case for the station re-opening.

“As a strong supporter of public transport, we are delighted that Laurencekirk station is once more part of the National Rail network,” says Lesley Stewart, Journeycall Business Development Director. “Of course, the new station is extremely convenient for us, being just beside our office! It’s ideal for clients and perfect for many of our team travelling to and from work.

“We’re looking to recruit additional staff. We’ve built a strong reputation for high quality support and customer service skills. The new Laurencekirk station will help us to build a diverse workforce and continue to attract high calibre recruits to our growing team.”

So what facilities are there for a disabled person using Laurencekirk station?

When it comes to building stations, “access to services” has been top of the rail industry’s agenda for more than a decade now. Standards governing the construction and refurbishment of British rail stations are amongst the most rigorous in Europe.

It’s good to report that a stroll around confirms that most of the things a Disabled Persons Railcard holder would like to see at a station are in place: parking spaces for Blue Badge holders; clear signage; bright tactile strips along the platforms; ramps up to facilities on both platforms; induction loops in the customer help points; bright real-time information screens; and CCTV for security. In 1967 any one of these facilities would have been remarkable.

Going on further, ramp access leads to a push-button door which opens onto a charming waiting room. Impressive murals of Laurencekirk and the Mearns area look down from the walls and there’s also information on Lewis Grassic Gibbon, who wrote Sunset Song, the book that was voted Scotland’s most popular novel ever. He’s credited with vividly portraying the early 20th century, a time of great change for the farm folk of the local area.

So getting to the platform, knowing how your train’s running, and waiting in comfort isn’t a problem but… there are no portable ramps on the platforms. How do wheelchair users get on and off services?

ScotRail’s Access and Inclusion Manager Patrick Nyamurundira has the answer: “There are portable ramps on all of our trains, so our on-train staff will be happy to help people board and alight. We advise disabled customers who want assistance to let us know before they travel so that we can make sure we are ready for them.” For those of you wishing to do this, you can call 0800 912 2901 or go to www.firstscotrail.com for further information.

19 trains now serve the station each day: 10 going north to Aberdeen and nine going south towards Edinburgh and Glasgow. One wheelchair user waiting for an Aberdeen train (who was using a Disabled Persons Railcard) told me: “It’s great that my sister and I can easily reach Aberdeen from Laurencekirk using the train.”

And what local attractions make the journey to Laurencekirk worthwhile? Well, known as "Lang Toun" on account of its long High street, Laurencekirk has hotels and cafes enough to meet the needs of many a hungry and thirsty traveller.

The town slumbers peacefully between the nearby misty blue Grampian mountains and the North Sea coastline. In spring the vibrant sight of fields of daffodils delights the eyes, and in summer the hills glow with bright purple heather. The rust-coloured earth of surrounding farmland is mirrored in the red sandstone from which many of the homes and buildings are made.

Nearby charming villages include Edzell and Fettercairn, both with architecturally fascinating Victorian arches, through which cars pass en route to Royal Deeside, a few miles away over the hills. There are spectacular views from the Cairn O' Mount, with the Lomond hills and Fife visible many miles to the south on a clear day.

To the North Sea, you'll find maritime heritage and a summer festival at the fishing village of Johnshaven, or fine golden sands and a wildlife reserve close to St Cyrus, where the picturesque North Esk river reaches the mighty North Sea.

Finally, any visit to the Mearns must include the Lewis Grassic Gibbon visitor centre at Arbuthnott. There you can learn much about the author of Sunset Song, who loved this land and wrote lyrically of the small farms and Doric dialect of local people in the early 20th century, whose quiet contented lives were changed forever by the force of world wars and mechanisation."

These are more peaceful times for Laurencekirk, and changes like the reopening of its station are more welcome. Why not use your Railcard to come visit in the future?