Leuchars

Location type

Station

Names and dates

Leuchars Junction [2nd] (1878-1970)
Leuchars (1970-)

Note: text in square brackets is added for clarity and was not part of the location's name.

Station code: LEU National Rail ScotRail
Where: Fife, Scotland
Opened on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway.
Opened on the Tay Bridge and Associated Lines (North British Railway).
Opened on the St Andrews Railway.
Open on the Edinburgh to Dundee.

Description

This is an island platform station which today is the closest to St Andrews. There is a car park on the east side of the station.

The station opened with the Tay Bridge replacing Leuchars (Old) just to the north but not on the new line to the bridge being on the older approach to Tayport.

The station had a bay at each end, the southern one being for the St Andrews Railway branch. Both bays have been filled in. There were signal boxes for the junction at either end too, both on the east side.

There were sidings on the west side of the station. North of the station as far as Leuchars (Old) the line was quadruple track.

The station building is a replacement for the original which burned down in 1913 (30 June). The fire was attributed by many to radical Suffragettes as tins of accelerant were found nearby, similar to those used previously at the Gatty Marine Laboratory in St Andrews (21 June). Unlike the earlier fire, no placards were left at Leuchars.

The north box was replaced in 1920 when a siding was laid into RAF Leuchars which is just to the east of the north end of the station. In addition further sidings were laid between the junction and Leuchars (Old) on the west side of the line, approached from the south. The sidings on the west side of the station were also altered and the headshunt provided with a loop.

The line to Leuchars (Old) was singled in 1959 and closed in 1967, however the siding into RAF Leuchars remained open. With the closure of Leuchars South box in 1970, the year after the St Andrews [2nd] line closed in 1969, the box was renamed simply 'Leuchars'.

Link to St Andrews



A regular bus service links the station to St Andrews with a 10 minutes journey time.

Passenger traffic to Leuchars station has more than doubled since 2000.

Much of the former railway route remains today. Exceptions are the dismantled bridge over the River Eden at Guard Bridge and occupation of the trackbed at Guard Bridge and on construction around the sites of the former St Andrews [1st] and St Andrews [2nd] stations.

Local

RAF Leuchars was to the east of the station.

It is perhaps revealing that even the North British Railway's guide to the East Coast Main Line described the station and village minimally

From Leuchars, a place halfway between Cupar and the south end of the Tay Bridge, and the possessor of an interesting old Norman church, one most readily reaches St Andrews [2nd].
Leuchars remains a village, hugely overshadowed by RAF Leuchars. The Norman church is still in Leuchars, St Athernase Church, built in the late 1100s.

Tags

Station
10/11/2022




Nearby stations
Leuchars (Old)
Guard Bridge
Dairsie
St Fort
St Andrews [1st]
Kilmany
St Andrews [2nd]
Newport-on-Tay West
Wormit
Newport-on-Tay East
Mount Melville
Tayport
Rathillet Siding
Cupar
Broughty Pier
Milton Junction [Leuchars]
Guardbridge Paper Mill
Guard Bridge Viaduct
Eden Brick Works
Seggie Brick and Tile Works
Seafield Brick and Tile Works
St Fort South Junction
St Fort West Junction
Linkswood Oil Depot
Strathtyrum House
Morton Siding
St Andrews Shed
Newton Ballast Hill
Tourist/other
RAF Leuchars
St Athernase Church
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line.


Chronology Dates

01/07/1852St Andrews Railway
Opened from Leuchars to St Andrews [1st].
15/07/1870Tay Bridge and Associated Lines (North British Railway)
Tay Bridge [1st], Dundee Tay Bridge [Station] and line from Leuchars to Dundee authorised. Dundee's Dock Street Tunnel authorised. Running power access authorised for the Caledonian Railway between Buckingham Junction and Camperdown Junction.
01/06/1878Tay Bridge and Associated Lines (North British Railway)
Public opening of bridge and line between Camperdown Junction, Dundee (Tay Bridge) station and Leuchars. The Tay Bridge [1st] was single track and the other part of the line double. The bridge had signal boxes at either end. The engineer for the line was Thomas Bouch, knighted after Queen Victoria travelled over the bridge.
04/01/1969St Andrews Railway
St Andrews [2nd] to Leuchars passenger trains withdrawn.

News items

11/07/2022150th Open: Train drivers deal too late to save many golf fans St Andrews travel plans [Fife Today]
10/07/2022ScotRail reminds golf fans to consider alternative travel during The Open [ScotRail]
05/07/2022ScotRail issues travel warning for The 150th Open Championship [ScotRail]
21/04/2022Leuchars train travellers could save money and time as ScotRail tackles bizarre Glasgow ticketing rule [The Courier]
16/02/2022St Andrews rail link: Public urged to have say on exciting options for town [Fife Today]
10/02/2022Railway line between Edinburgh and Dundee to close over two weekends [The Courier]
06/08/2021Overnight tree cutting on railway line between Cupar and Leuchars [Network Rail]
06/10/2020Victory for locals as extra stop added at Leuchars train station [The Courier]
17/09/2020Train fault at Leuchars causes disruption for Dundee services [Evening Telegraph]
18/01/2020Campaigners say rail usage stats in Courier Country strengthen case for St Andrews rail link - The Courier [The Courier]

Books


A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The North of Scotland v. 15 (Regional railway history series)

A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: The North of Scotland v. 15 (Regional railway history series)

An Illustrated History of Tayside's Railways

Burntisland: Fife's Railway Port (Locomotion papers)

Fife's Last Days of Steam

Fife's Lost Railways

Railways of Fife

Scotland’s Lost Branch Lines: Where Beeching Got It Wrong

The Anstruther and St. Andrews Railway

The Railways of Fife

The St Andrews Railway (Oakwood Library of Railway History)