Scotscalderrailway station is a railway station located in the Highland council area in the far north of Scotland. It serves several rural hamlets in the historic county of Caithness, including Scotscalder, Olgrinmore, Westerdale and Calder. The station is situated on the Far North Line, down the line from. It has a single platform which is long enough to accommodate a four-carriage train. Owing to its geographical remoteness, limited services and lengthy journey times, Scotscalder's patronage is extremely low: the station has not seen more than 500 passengers in a year since at least the 2002–03 financial year. In 2017–18 the station only saw 182 passengers, making it the 12th least-used railway station in Britain and the least-used on the Far North Line. In 2018–19 the patronage increased to 238, making Scotscalder the second least-used station on the line and the 15th least-used in Britain. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail, which also operates all trains serving the station.
History
The station was opened by the Sutherland and Caithness Railway on 28 July 1874. In 1988 the station house was sold by the British Railways Board for conversion to a residential dwelling. Following the conversion, in 1994, the station house was sold again and renovated further, for which the owner won the Ian Allan Railway Heritage Award. The station house was used as a holiday home during this period, but was available to rent for short periods. It was also occasionally open to the public for viewings. Between 1994 and 2004, the owner purchased additional land to the North and South of the station house to prevent development. In 2004 the station house and surrounding land was sold again to the present owners who have carried out extensive refurbishment. The station house is now a private residence and is no longer available to rent or open to the public.
Services
On weekdays and Saturdays, the service pattern from the station consists of four trains per day northbound to via and three trains per day southbound to via,,, and. On Sundays there is just one train per day each way. This station is designated as a request stop. This means that passengers intending to alight must inform the guard in advance, and any passengers wishing to board must ensure they are in view of the train driver, and are required to use a hand signal to stop the train.
