At 7:20 pm on 21 October 1991, a Dundee bound Aberdeen-London Intercity express destroyed two out of the four gates of the level crossing. The fifty passengers on board and five people in a passing car were fortunate to avoid collision when the train passed through the crossing at around 80 miles per hour. The gates had not been closed before the train passed the level crossing. Dundee District Council had previously postponed planning permission to modernise the gates. They were replaced by the current arrangement of four barriers in 1995, with control transferred to Dundee Signalling Centre. Subsequent restoration of the station saw the removal of the historic footbridge, which now languishes behind the westbound platform, leaving only an underpass for those wishing to cross the line at Gray Street, or walk the short distance to another overbridge, when the barriers are lowered. The footbridge was closed to the public before the crossing was modernised. Service frequencies at the station have varied significantly over the years - prior to 1990, there were regular local trains to Arbroath & Dundee/Perth throughout the day along with a small number of longer-distance workings, but a shortage of rolling stock led to the service being significantly cut at the May timetable change that year. For the next twenty years, only a handful of trains stopped here, but since then there has a gradual increase in provision following a campaign by the local authority & rail user groups. From 2018, an hourly service is planned for this station, and as part of a major timetable upgrade backed by Transport Scotland. From December 2018, a roughly hourly service to Arbroath northbound, and to Edinburgh southbound, was introduced. In the evenings southbound trains terminate at Dundee.
Services
2016
Monday to Saturday: 16 services call at Broughty Ferry. There are 9 services northbound, 2 of which terminate at Inverurie, 4 at Aberdeen, 1 at Arbroath and 1 at Carnoustie. There is also an early morning departure to Inverness. There are 7 services southbound, 3 of which terminate at Glasgow Queen Street, 2 at Edinburgh, 1 at Perth and 2 at Dundee. Sunday: There are 3 services Northbound, terminating at Aberdeen and 4 services southbound, 2 of which terminate at Edinburgh, 1 at Glasgow Queen Street and 1 at Perth.
2018/19
Monday to Saturday: There is an hourly service in each direction, to both Edinburgh via Dundee and Kirkcaldy, and to Arbroath. This takes the daily number of services from 16 up to 36, as part of a service upgrade between Dundee and Arbroath. Sunday: Service levels remain low, with only 3 northbound services to Aberdeen and 3 southbound services- 2 to Edinburgh and 1 to Perth
