East Kilbride railway station
East Kilbride 
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| Scottish Gaelic: Cille Bhrìghde an Ear | |
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| Location | |
| Place | East Kilbride |
| Local authority | South Lanarkshire |
| Coordinates | 55°45′57″N 4°10′52″W / 55.7659°N 4.1810°WCoordinates: 55°45′57″N 4°10′52″W / 55.7659°N 4.1810°W |
| Grid reference | NS633546 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | EKL |
| 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 |
 0.985 million |
| 2012/13 |
0.989 million |
| 2013/14 |
1.078 million |
| 2014/15 |
1.154 million |
| 2015/16 |
 1.137 million |
| History | |
| Original company | Busby Railway |
| 1 September 1868 | 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 East Kilbride from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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East Kilbride railway station serves the town of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by Abellio ScotRail and it is a terminus on the former Busby Railway. The station is 11 1⁄2 miles (18.5 km) southeast of Glasgow Central.
Initially opened in 1868, and operated by the Caledonian Railway Company from Glasgow via Busby which was a spur from the Glasgow to Barrhead railway at Pollokshaws, the line was extended eastwards in 1888 to Hunthill Junction, near High Blantyre, with an intermediate halt at Calderwood Glen. At Hunthill was a triangular junction where the line from Strathaven joined, then the line proceeded towards Auchinraith Junction where it joined the current Hamiton – Blantyre section of line. This extension of the line was never busy and traffic was suspended during the 1914–18 war, with complete closure coming about as a consequence of the 1939–45 war, after which the line was cut back to Nerston where it serviced some local industries such as Mavor and Coulson Mining Equipment. The section immediately beyond East Kilbride station was also used for many years for shunting etc., and photographs exist of a derailment of a locomotive in this section in 1951. The section between Busby and East Kilbride has always been a single line and was worked by a token arrangement until the resignalling of the East Kilbride Line on 24 February 1974.
The section from Nerston to the current station was closed on 24 January 1966, shortly before the last steam-hauled passenger services ceased in March of that year. Some of the track beyond East Kilbride was in situ until the early 1970s although not in use; photographs as late as 1972 show an overbridge at West Mains Road and the line continuing underneath. The course of the former railway is built on immediately beyond the station; however, the route can be easily followed towards Nerston and beyond. The line is in fact a footpath between Main Street and East Mains Road and to this day is still easily recognisable as a former railway. The former viaduct at High Blanytre is long gone but the piers are still easily visible. Beyond High Blantyre the route is completely replaced by housing but is still possible to follow with a careful eye on Google Maps.
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Wikipedia