Former St Andrews Railway Station (St Andrews Railway & Anstruther and St Andrews Railway)

St Andrews Railway Station, situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, was the second station constructed in the area. Operating from 1887 until 1969, it was established by both the St Andrews Railway and the Anstruther and St Andrews Railway. Today, the site, characterized by the enduring stone cutting walls, serves as an on-road car park behind St Andrews Bus Station.

Commencing operations on 1 June 1887 under the management of the North British Railway, the “new” St Andrews Railway Station replaced the initial station, which was repurposed as a goods yard and depot. Despite being designed for dual-track functionality, the railway operated solely on a single line.

Positioned within a stone-walled cutting on the town’s periphery, the station featured a side platform, an island platform, and a side bay with a siding, instead of a second through line. Control over rail traffic was facilitated by a signal box located on the western side of the stone cutting.

In 1965, the closure of the railway line to the south, formerly operated by the Anstruther and St Andrews Railway, designated St Andrews as the terminal station for services originating from Leuchars railway station on the Edinburgh–Dundee line.

The signal box ceased operations in 1967, as part of the so-called “Beeching Cuts”, and subsequently, on 6 January 1969, the station, along with the entire railway line, ceased operations.

St Andrews Bus Station

St Andrews Bus Station is currently the main public transport node in St Andrews.

Edinburgh is currently connected with St Andrews by Stagecoach Bus Service X59, providing a bus service around 1 bus per hour with a journey time of about 2 hours. X58 and X60 can also be used, but it goes by a longer way via Leven.

Stagecoach’s depot is also just adjacent to the bus station.

The former St Andrews Railway Station is just behind the bus station.

The bus station sits on the elevated section. The former railway ran on the lower section.

Former St Andrews Railway Station

The former St Andrews Railway Station is now a car park.

The stone walls on the sides of the car park are the original station stone walls.

The former St Andrews Railway Station had an island platform with 2 tracks, each beside each stone wall.

Looking out the former line towards Leuchars Junction.

There is another access to the site of the former St Andrews Railway Station beside the Stagecoach bus depot.

StARLink (The St Andrews Rail Link Campaign)

Since the closure of the railway in 1969, there has been a notable surge in the town’s population, with the number of university students skyrocketing from 2,000 to almost 10,000, reflecting an almost fivefold increase. The St Andrews Rail Link Campaign (StARLink) aims to lobby to reinstate the railway to St Andrews.