Location type

Major station

Names and dates

Aberdeen Joint (1867-1952)
Aberdeen (1952-)

Opened on the Denburn Valley Line (Great North of Scotland Railway).

Opened on the Aberdeen Joint (Caledonian Railway).

Open on the Aberdeen to Inverness.
Open on the Dundee to Aberdeen.

Description

This is a station with five public platforms. It opened as Aberdeen Joint - jointly owned by the Scottish North Eastern Railway to the south and the Great North of Scotland Railway to the north. It replaced terminal stations at Aberdeen Guild Street and Aberdeen Waterloo respectively. A poor horse-drawn street tramway link had existed between these, no substitute for a connecting line and joint station.

The station had a substantial reconstruction largely completed by 1914 and fully after the Great War. The plans were prepared by the chief engineer of the Great North of Scotland Railway, James Alexander Parker.

The main entrance and building is built in Kemnay Quarries stone. It formerly faced Union Square and is on the eastern side of the station. To the west, the southern and northern terminating platforms are separated by a large concourse covered by a glazed roof (very similar to that over the west side original station circulating area at Perth dating from 1911). Platforms are heavily canopied. Through platforms and lines are on the western side of the station.

There was a secondary entrance via a granite built building ('B' listed) on Guild Street built in 1909. The building still stands and is the only remaining part of the older station.

3 to 5 are bay platforms and 6 and 7 are through platforms, both divided into north and south portions. 1 and 2 exist, but are not used for passengers.

Platforms 8 and 9 were also through platforms, but are no longer in use. The northern bay platforms, 10 to 13 have been demolished (early 1970s) and the site redeveloped. '14' was not in passenger use. There was a horse dock and carriage sidings to the east.

Within the station were two signal boxes.
'Aberdeen Station' (1867-1914) was in the east of the station
'Aberdeen West' box (1908-1914) was to its west, added during expansion when a goods only route opened to the west of the station

Both boxes were replaced with 'Aberdeen Centre' (1914-1981).

In addition 'Aberdeen North' box (1867-1891, 1891-1914, 1914-1981) controlled the northern approach. In latter form this was at the north end of the platforms, located between the through lines on the west side of the station and bay platforms to the east.

Denburn Junction box was to the south, where the joint station lines met the Aberdeen Railway line.

The line north from Aberdeen to Kittybrewster Junction was opened as a double track in 1867.

North from Aberdeen to Dyce was singled in 1971. A siding was retained north of the station.

'Aberdeen North', 'Aberdeen Centre' and Denburn Junction were replaced by Aberdeen Power Box in 1981.

The original joint station had a single through platform and two bays at either end, a layout similar to Perth General. This large station featured a glazed barrel trainshed. There were two large side walls supporting the glazed curved roof.

The Union Square shopping centre development directly adjoins the station on its east side. The former east side of the station is now in the atrium.

Local

The Station Hotel was sold by British Transport Hotels in 1983.

Station Hotel Aberdeen

The former entrance on the north side of Guild Street is now Tiffany Hair and Beauty .

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