Connel Ferry railway station
Connel Ferry 
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| Scottish Gaelic: Aiseag na Coingheil | |
Connel Ferry station on 15 July 2007
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| Location | |
| Place | Connel |
| Local authority | Argyll and Bute |
| Coordinates | 56°27′09″N 5°23′00″W / 56.4524°N 5.3834°WCoordinates: 56°27′09″N 5°23′00″W / 56.4524°N 5.3834°W |
| Grid reference | NM916340 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | CON |
| Managed by | Abellio ScotRail |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 4,316 |
| 2012/13 |
 4,004 |
| 2013/14 |
4,400 |
| 2014/15 |
8,564 |
| 2015/16 |
6,592 |
| History | |
| Original company | Callander and Oban Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Callander and Oban Railway operated by Caledonian Railway |
| 1 July 1880 | Opened |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Connel Ferry from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Connel Ferry railway station is a railway station serving the village of Connel in western Scotland. This station is on the Oban branch of the West Highland Line, originally part of the Callander and Oban Railway.
Station facilities are somewhat basic, consisting of a shelter and a telephone for obtaining train running information. Platform lighting is installed.
Connel Ferry station opened on 1 July 1880, when the final section of the Callander and Oban Railway, between Dalmally and Oban, came into use. The original layout at Connel Ferry comprised a crossing loop with platforms on either side, with some sidings on the north side.
Considerable enlargement of the station took place in 1903, with the opening of the branch line to Ballachulish. The original Down platform became an island platform, with the Down Main line routed alongside the new south face, and the Up Main line (the original Down line) to its north. The former Up platform became the Branch Platform and a bay platform was constructed at its west end. A goods loop ran to the south of the Down Main line. A turntable was provided in the goods yard for turning the branch line locomotives.
A short distance beyond the junction, the branch line spanned Loch Etive by means of Connel Bridge, a cantilever bridge with a span length that was at the time second only to the Forth Bridge. In 1940, additional sidings were laid in on the south side of the station for the wartime traffic, these being removed in 1948. Prior to closure of the Ballachulish branch 1966 both trains and vehicles crossed the bridge. The extensive track layout was reduced to just a single line routed via the former Branch Platform (the original Up platform). The island platform was taken out of use. The layout grew again in 1968 when an oil storage depot with two sidings was built on the site of the goods yard. A run-round loop was laid alongside the single line to the east of the station, connected at each end by points controlled from a ground frame.
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